Two cardinals, bishop ask Maryland governor to commute death sentence

Published: 2004-06-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two cardinals and a bishop whose dioceses include parts of Maryland have asked Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich to commute a convict's death sentence to life imprisonment. They noted that "life without parole has been a sentencing option in Maryland death penalty proceedings since 1989" and they asked Ehrlich "to be merciful" and use his powers to change the sentence. The request was made in a June 9 letter to Ehrlich from Cardinals Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington and William H. Keeler of Baltimore and Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del. At a June 9 news conference in Washington, Cardinal Keeler said that a similar letter was sent to Ehrlich by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States, on behalf of Pope John Paul II. The church leaders made their plea about Steven Oken, sentenced to death in a case involving the sexual assault and killing of a woman in her Baltimore apartment almost 17 years ago.

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