Sunday, March 17, 2002

HBO Examines Death Penalty Case in Okla.

(The Record of Hackensack, N.J., 3/17/2002)

c. 2002 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
By Lisa Haddock

"The Execution of Wanda Jean" offers a disturbing if incomplete portrait of the first African-American woman to be put to death in the United States since 1954.

The documentary chronicles the last three months of the life of the two-time killer, executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma in January 2001. The film - directed and produced by Liz Garbus - will leave viewers seeking a thorough journalistic account frustrated. However, "Wanda Jean" does capture the harrowing emotional side of her journey to the death chamber.

The film shows Wanda Jean Allen's legal team battling to save her life. They argue that Allen was retarded and suffered from neurological damage that prevented her from controlling her violent impulses, mitigating factors not raised in her trial. Neither contention is explored adequately. In fact, Allen comes across as a thinking woman. She demonstrates a command of Scriptures, reciting verses by heart and arguing theological points with her lawyers.

Return to top of page

The film makes it clear that Allen is guilty. She gunned down her lover, Gloria Leathers, in front of a police station in a suburb of Oklahoma City in 1988. In one of the film's most unsettling moments, Leathers' mother, who witnessed the attack, describes seeing her daughter's intestines spilling out after the shooting.

The relationship was doomed from the start. The pair met while Allen was serving a term for manslaughter and Leathers a term for forgery and larceny. ("Wanda Jean" omits the gruesome facts in Allen's prior case. She fatally shot and pistol-whipped her 1981 victim.) After four years, Allen was freed on probation.

Interviewed for the film, a prosecutor reads chilling threats written by Allen to Leathers. The viewer is left with no doubt that Allen was a domineering woman who contemplated killing her lover well before Leathers tried to end the relationship.

Death penalty foes point out that a killer is far more likely to be executed if the victim is white, especially if the killer is non-white. In this case, both killer and victim are black. Allegations that homophobia influenced Allen's sentencing are raised but unexplored. The sole evidence given is that the case was tried in Oklahoma, well-known for its conservatism and stiff criminal sentences.

Despite the film's shortcomings, it includes powerful interviews with relatives of Allen and of Leathers. Most effective are the scenes showing the emotional toll on Allen's mother and attorneys. Clearly, these people loved this troubled woman.

Return to top of page

The film's central figure remains frustratingly elusive. She is charming and affable in one scene, peevish the next. Though she professes a deep Christian faith and sincere repentance, she avoids taking responsibility for her crime, claiming she was not in her body at the time. At times, her belief in God seems sincere. At others, it seems a shield of denial against her impending doom.

The film's most dramatic moment, the execution itself, takes place off camera. But it captures the contradiction that is Allen. In her final moments, she offers a prayer of forgiveness for her executioners, yet dances in her restraints and sticks her tongue out.

Leathers' relatives see her farewell as an unforgivable taunt. Her defense team describes that moment as heroic, cocky, and playful.

The truth went to the grave with Allen. And viewers are left to contemplate that disturbing ambiguity.

Return to top of page