After a trio of troubled executions by lethal injection in Alabama, the state Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a request by Gov. Kay Ivey, R, asking that the prison system be given more time to carry out death sentences. She also eliminated the automatic review of misjudgment in death penalty cases.
The Alabama Supreme Court announced the changes to the appeals procedure last Friday. The 6-3 ruling abolished the previous requirement that all executions be completed within one day, and the death sentence expires at midnight, giving the governor the power to set the time window for the execution.
The split court also eliminated an automatic “simple error review,” which is where the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals automatically reviews death penalty cases for a clear error in judgment, even if the defense attorney did not object. .
The judges said appellate court judges can conduct the review, but are no longer required to do so.
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Governor Kay Ivey is sworn in as the 54th Governor of Alabama during a ceremony on the steps of the Alabama state capital on Monday, January 16, 2023, in Montgomery, Alabama.
(AP Photo/Butch Dill)
The governor’s office described the time window change as a “victory for justice,” with supporters adding that the appeal change would ease the burden on the court system.
“I see this as a victory for justice. As we initially interpreted the order, it ensures an extended time frame, which was a primary request of the governor,” Ivey’s spokeswoman, Gina Maiola, said in an email. She said the governor’s staff will review the order with the prison system.
On the other hand, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, a well-known death penalty lawyer, spoke out against the changes, saying repealing a crucial avenue of review is “shocking.”
“I think the combination of these two rules increases the likelihood that we will see more wrongful convictions, more wrongful sentencing and more cruelty and possible torture,” Stevenson told the Associated Press.
Stevenson said nearly 40% of reversals in Alabama death penalty cases have been made under simple error review, which had been in place since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Commenting on the time frame change, Stevenson said that while other states allow longer periods of time to carry out an execution, no state gives the governor complete power in the process. He worries that the change will allow “already troublesome executions” to continue longer.
Bryan Stevenson, Esq., Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative, speaks onstage during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community 2023 Memorial Service at Ebenezer Baptist Church on January 16, 2023 in Atlanta.
(Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
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Judge Jay Mitchell wrote in a concurring opinion on January 12 that the simple erroneous review was “unnecessary” and “at odds with common law, federal law, and the laws of our regional sister states.”
He said the change will ease the burden on the court because it will no longer be required to “review the registry for such errors, nor will it be required to review reports of error.” Mitchell said lawyers for death row inmates can raise the issues in other appeals.
“Today’s amendment returns the review of simple errors in death penalty cases to its proper role and scope. In doing so, it further aligns our Rules of Appellate Procedure with common law and the approach of other jurisdictions,” Mitchell wrote. . “The amendment also streamlines the appellate review process and, as a result, promotes the fair and efficient administration of justice.”
Alabama Supreme Court in Montgomery, Alabama on July 6, 2018.
(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Judge Kelli Wise and Judge James “Greg” Shaw, both former members of the Court of Criminal Appeals, dissented from the decision.
Wise said he could not support a complete repeal despite the time required.
“In these cases, the very lives of the defendants are at stake, and I believe that such cases are entitled to further review on direct appeal,” he wrote.
Shaw said he has done many simple error reviews of records in death penalty cases, and sees “no compelling reason” to repeal the review.
“I am concerned that the fact that there has been a review for simple error in direct appeal will no longer increase confidence in a capital conviction and death sentence. In my opinion, a thorough review for simple error of a criminal case death on direct appeal serves the interests of both the State and the defendant,” he wrote.
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Since September, Alabama has called off two separate executions after state officials failed to find a suitable vein for the lethal injection before the death sentences expired. In July, the state completed the execution of Joe Nathan James Jr., but only after a similar access problem led to a three-hour delay.
The sun sets behind the William C. Holman in Atmore, Ala.
(AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
The state also had a botched execution in 2018.
Ivey announced a “top-down” review of the enforcement proceedings in November 2022.
Associated Press contributed to this report
