A 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week has been spared death after his state’s governor intervened.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Burton was sentenced to death for the murder of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.
Another man shot Battle after Burton exited the building. The shooter’s death sentence was later reduced on appeal to life imprisonment.
“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances,” the Republican governor said in a statement.
“I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not.”
More to follow…
