Court Opinion

ID: 9937590
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 19:01:36.00255+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:37.793544
License: Public Domain

I concur to the extent the opinion and the judgment affirm the defendant's conviction. However, I dissent from that portion of the opinion and the judgment remanding with instructions regarding the sentence.
As an appellate judge, I am required, under Ala. Code 1975, § 13A-5-53, to determine "Whether the [defendant's] sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant." Given the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment without parole; the recommendation of the victim's family that the defendant be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole; the fact that the defendant was 17 years old when he committed the crime; and the circumstances of the crime (particularly that the defendant made no attempt to kill the witnesses to the crime), I have determined that the sentence of death is excessive and disproportionate.
I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals insofar as it affirms the defendant's sentence of death. I would remand for the Court of Criminal Appeals to direct the trial court to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. *Page 829