Prosecutors ask judge to hold execution case in abeyance
Nov. 7—Prosecutors asked a judge to allow a prison warden a "reasonable" amount of time to perform his duties to decide whether to initiate competence proceedings for a death row inmate scheduled to be executed in June 2023.
Attorneys for James Chandler Ryder filed motions in October requesting a Pittsburg County judge to conduct an evidentiary hearing into the inmate's competency and order Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Jim Farris to notify the district attorney and initiate competency proceedings.
Farris's attorneys argue that the motions are "premature" in asking Pittsburg County District Judge Mike Hogan to hold the case in abeyance until Nov. 30 so that Farris "may perform his statutory duty carefully rather than in haste."
In the court documents filed in October, Ryder's attorneys stated they notified Farris of Ryder's present mental condition to Farris on Sept. 13 via email and postal mail and requested a "prompt response given his scheduled execution."
The attorneys followed up with Farris on Oct. 7 and said if an answer was not given by Oct. 19, judicial remedy would be sought.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections General Council Kari Hawkins' response Oct. 12 stating the agency received the request and that Farris would give the matter "careful consideration."
Ryder's attorneys argued in the motions that Ryder cannot wait "weeks or months" for a response from Farris as competency hearings are "complex, fact-intensive inquiries."
Attorneys argue Ryder suffers from severe, diagnosed mental illnesses dating back to 2000 with numerous psychologists and experts ruling the man incompetent throughout the years with the latest diagnosis in August 2022. Nearly 200 pages of documentation was filed containing notes and other documents from psychologists who have visited with Ryder.
Ryder, 60, was sentenced to death by a Pittsburg County jury for the 1999 death of Daisy Hallum and to life in prison without parole for the 1999 death of Sam Hallum.
Court records and previous News-Capital articles report the Hallums were found dead at their property on April 9, 1999 with investigators believing a shotgun was used in Sam Hallum's death and that Daisy Hallum was bludgeoned to death.
Ryder was accused in their deaths following a dispute in Longtown. He reportedly lived on the Hallum property for some time before the killings.
Following an August 2022 exam, Barry M. Crown, Ph. D, wrote Ryder "evidences the signs of a major mental illness."
"He is emaciated and disheveled with pressured speech and cognitive problems with concentration, attention, memory and executive functions," Crown wrote. "He expresses disorganized and unfocused responses with loose associations and delusional fixations."
Crown said his clinical opinion was Ryder "is presently unable to demonstrate a rational understanding of the fact they he will be executed" and diagnosed Ryder with Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorder.
"In terms familiar to the law, Mr. Ryder is insane," Crown wrote. "His mental power has been wholly obliterated. He is unable to comprehend or process, in any fashion, the reason he is to be executed and that the execution is imminent."
Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com
