Arkansas Governor Spares Killer’s Life After Juror’s Plea

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —  Gov. Mike Huckabee on Friday spared the life of a death row inmate after a juror who voted for execution pleaded for mercy because his conscience was bothering him.

Huckabee commuted the death sentence to life without parole for Bobby Ray Fretwell, 34, who was convicted of robbing and shooting to death 81-year-old Sherman Sullins in 1985.

“I know this is a hard decision for any one person to decide, and Mr. Huckabee is a wonderful person,” Fretwell said in a statement. “I still feel the pain and suffering of Sullins’ family and friends, and I pray they can find forgiveness and heal.”

Gene Stinnett, one of the jurors at Fretwell’s trial, had written a letter to the governor and the state parole board asking that the Feb. 16 execution be stopped.

Stinnett, 70, said he was the lone holdout against the death penalty but relented for fear he would be an outcast in the small community where the killing occurred.

“I just kind of broke down. I didn’t have the courage of my conviction,” Stinnett said in an interview last week. “It’s driving me nuts.”

Sullins’ son, LeRoy, criticized the governor but said his family hadn’t decided whether to protest.

“I don’t know how he can think it ain’t diminished. I mean, it’s no punishment,” he said. “When you do the crime, you got to pay. You can’t let people off in a few years.”

Huckabee, who became governor in 1996, has sent six men to their deaths and has never commuted another death sentence.

Under state law, there is a 30-day public comment period before the commutation becomes final.

“The death penalty is irreversible,” Huckabee said. “We cannot afford to make a mistake.”