An Oklahoma death row inmate made headlines last week when he asked to be transported to the Pittsburg County Courthouse to obtain a marriage license. The case prompted outrage from citizens and from the families of his victims, but now Governor Mary Fallin has stepped in and said that the man will not leave the walls of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Gilbert Ray Postelle, 30, has been on Oklahoma's death row since his conviction for the murders of four people on Memorial Day 2005. Postelle and his brother reportedly blamed James “Donnie” Swindle Jr. for a motorcycle accident that left their father permanently disabled. The two were convicted after going to a Del City trailer home and herding Swindle and three others out of the home before firing upon them and killing all four people.
Postelle was sentenced to death for two of the murders and life without parole for the other two murders. His brother was sentenced to life without parole in all four deaths.
Now, the death row inmate has decided to marry an Oklahoma City woman, identified as Vera Ward, 41. Under Oklahoma law, inmates cannot be deprived of their civil rights, and so Postelle has the legal right to marry the woman.
The catch is that state law says he must appear in person to receive his marriage license. Pittsburg Court Clerk Cindy Ledford said she did not want to travel to the prison to issue the marriage license, and asked legal counsel whether she would be required to do so. Ledford said, "If I do it for one inmate, then I will have do it for all of them and I'll be at the prison all the time doing marriage licenses."
For a while, it appeared as if Postelle would get his way through Corrections Department officials transporting the heavily guarded man to the courthouse. However, Swindle's sister, Shelli Milner, asked Governor Mary Fallin to intervene, saying that the dangerous felon should never leave the prison walls.
Governor Fallin issued a statement Friday emphatically insisting that Postelle will not be transported from the prison in order to obtain a marriage license:
"Inmate Postelle will not be transported. We are discussing alternatives with the parties. But he will not be transported from the prison."
One such alternative may be the allowance of Postelle to "appear" by video. In 2014, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a 7-2 ruling allowing an inmate to appear by video in order to seek a legal name change. In the ruling, the Court said, "Prison inmates have a right of access to the courts of Oklahoma civil matters, although they do not have the right to appear personally."
The majority opinion furthered:
"Inmate testimony in a civil case by telephone, video conference or other electronic means is used in many jurisdictions to ensure both appropriate inmate access to courts and the timely resolution of cases. The use of alternative methods of inmate testimony is no longer unusual. Such procedures are so commonplace that they must always be considered as alternative methods of testimony in any civil case where an inmate is a litigant."
It certainly seems to be a more cost-effective method than transporting a prisoner to the courthouse under heavy guard.
The reported bride-to-be has not responded to media requests for comment.
Image credit: Oklahoma Department of Corrections
