Oklahoma board denies commutation in domestic violence case

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board has denied a request to commute the 30-year prison sentence of a woman convicted of failing to report the abuse of her children by her boyfriend, who received only two years behind bars for the abuse.

The board denied the request for 34-year-old Tondalao Hall, who was sentenced in 2006 after pleading guilty to failing to protect two of her children. The boyfriend, 35-year-old Robert Braxton Jr., pleaded guilty to abusing the children and was released on probation after receiving credit for two years he had already spent in jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma represents Hall and said Wednesday the board also rejected commutation requests in similar cases involving three other women. The women must wait three years before reapplying for commutation.