Oklahoma board denies commutation in domestic violence case
Source: Associated Press
Updated 6:04 pm CDT, Wednesday, September 19, 2018
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board has denied a request to commute the 30-year prison sentence of a woman convicted of failing to report the abuse of her children by her boyfriend, who received only two years behind bars for the abuse.
The board denied the request for 34-year-old Tondalao Hall, who was sentenced in 2006 after pleading guilty to failing to protect two of her children. The boyfriend, 35-year-old Robert Braxton Jr., pleaded guilty to abusing the children and was released on probation after receiving credit for two years he had already spent in jail.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma represents Hall and said Wednesday the board also rejected commutation requests in similar cases involving three other women. The women must wait three years before reapplying for commutation.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Oklahoma-board-denies-commutation-in-domestic-13242658.php
(Short article, no more at link.)
DECEMBER 8, 2017
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Tondalao Mabel Bassett
Who is Tondalao Hall?
Tondalao Hall is a 33-year-old woman of color and mother of three from Oklahoma City. She is currently serving her 13th year of a 30-year prison sentence for “failure to protect” her children from her abuser, Robert Braxton. She lived with her abusive partner since their first child was born when Tondalao was 16 years old, and in their time together Tondalao became increasingly more isolated from her friends and family. After enduring her boyfriend’s abuse for years, Tondalao was actively working on a way to leave him safely. Then at 19, Tondalao was arrested upon bringing her children to a local hospital with broken bones caused by Braxton’s abuse.
Why is Tondalao Hall still in prison?
In 2006 Tondalao Hall was harshly sentenced under a “failure to protect” law which penalized her much more harshly than her abusive partner. Robert Braxton, the father of the children and actual abuser, was sentenced to eight years of probation. The next month, Tondalao Hall was sentenced by the same judge to two consecutive 15-year sentences for failing to stop him.
Tondalao has previously appealed her case twice, requesting the courts to modify her excessive sentence through both a direct appeal and through an application for post-conviction relief, but she lost each of these appeals.
Supported by numerous community advocates and activists, Tondalao also tried unsuccessfully to seek clemency from the Oklahoma Pardon & Parole Board, which denied her request despite the glaringly obvious injustice of her sentence.
More:
https://www.acluok.org/en/news/updated-faq-tondalao-halls-hearing
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