State v. Willis
State v. Willis
Opinion of the Court
Walter Willis was tried and convicted at the March, 1913, term of the district court of
To the Governor of Oklahoma:
The presiding judge of the Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma, responding to your official communication of September 23, 1913, which presents for his consideration a certified copy of the record of the conviction of Walter Willis, who was, on the 25th day of March, 1913, by the judgment of the district court of Love county sentenced to death in accordance with the verdict of a jury returned upon his trial finding him guilty of the murder of W. A. Anglin and assessing his punishment at death, which judgment and sentence required that the said Walter Willis be executed on Friday, May 23, 1913; the execution according to information aliunde the record having been stayed by you to Friday, October 24, 1913, hereby submits the following:
From an examination of the records of this court, I find that no appeal has been taken in said cause. The law has been interpreted by the court to contemplate an advisory opinion by the judges of this court or any one of the judges thereof when an appeal has not been taken from a judgment and sentence of death. In this case there has been no appeal. Therefore, the opinion should be rendered as requested.
This is a companion case to the case of State v. Lawrence Gaines, 35 Okla. 375, 135 Pac. 1195, and comes to the presiding judge in the same manner, at the same time, and for the same purpose as the Gaines transcript. The testimony was largely the same as in the Gaines Case. There is before the writer a sworn statement signed by Walter Willis in which he admits that he was one of the murderers of W. A. Anglin and Boy Gaines was the other. I find nothing from the entire record which
You are respectfully advised that it is my opinion that all the safeguards and provisions of the law necessary to justify the execution of Walter Willis have been observed. Respectfully submitted.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.