Clemencies Granted in GA
since 1976
(from the Death Penalty Information Center)
1977 - Charles Harris Hill - Black man - Granted under Gov. George Busbee by Pardons Board. Death sentence was disproportional to the sentence given to his equally or more culpable co-defendant, the actual killer.*
1988 - Freddie Davis - White man - Granted under Gov. Joe Frank Harris. Board of Pardons and Paroles found that Davis’ death sentence was disproportional to the life sentence given to his equally or more culpable co-defendant.*
1990 - William ("Billy") Neal Moore - Black man - Granted under Gov. Joe Frank Harris. Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted Moore’s sentence citing his exemplary prison record, remorse, religious conversion, and the pleas for clemency from the victim’s family.*
1991 - Harold Williams - White man - Granted under Gov. Zell Miller. Board of Pardons and Paroles found that Williams’ death sentence was disproportional to the sentence given to his accomplice, who took full responsibility for the crime.*
2002 - Alexander Williams - Black man - Granted under Gov. Roy Barnes. The Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to commute Williams’s sentence to life without parole because he suffered from mental illness and was a juvenile at the time of the crime.
2004 - Willie James Hall - Black man - Granted under Gov. Sonny Perdue. The state parole board of Georgia commuted Hall’s death sentence to life without parole on January 26, 2004, after six jurors testified that they would have chosen life without parole were it offered at trial. Hall’s excellent behavior in prison and no criminal record prior to the murder was also a factor in the board’s decision. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 26, 2004)
2008 - Samuel David Crowe - White man - Granted under Gov. Sonny Perdue. The Board of Pardons and Paroles did not provide a reason for commuting Crowe’s sentence to life without parole. However, considerable testimony from friends, pastors and even a former corrections officer was presented to the board emphasizing his exemplary behavior and deep remorse while on death row. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 23, 2008)
2012 - Daniel Greene - Black man - Greene’s sentence was commuted to a sentence of life without parole by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. Evidence presented to the board included testimony from the prosecutor that that he would have sought life without parole rather than the death penalty if life without parole had existed at the time Greene was sentenced, testimony from community members and prison officials that the crime was an outlier of the otherwise peaceful and upstanding life and that Greene was intoxicated at the time of the crime. (Savannah Morning News, April 20, 2012)
2014 - Tommy Waldrip - White man - Granted under Gov. Nathan Deal. Sentence commuted to life without parole by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. Although the Board did not state a reason for clemency, one issue raised before the board was that the sentences for Waldrip and his accomplices were not proportional, as the other two people convicted for the same murder both received life sentences. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, July 9, 2014)
2020 - Jimmy Meders - White man - On January 16, 2020, the day Meders was scheduled to be executed, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles granted clemency. The board cited several reasons for the commutation, including “his lack of a criminal record prior to committing this offense, his commission of only one minor infraction in over 30 years on death row, the jury’s explicit desire during deliberations to impose a life without parole sentence which was legally unavailable at the time, and every living, able juror’s continued support for such a sentence.”
There have been 77 executions and 10 clemencies since 1976 in Georgia.