Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 20, 2006 6:56:45 GMT -5
killer case
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court refused to use an Alabama case Monday to reinstate the execution of juvenile killers, denying the state's appeal in a sensational slaying that became an issue during the GOP judicial primaries.
Ruling without comment, the justices rejected claims by Alabama Attorney General Troy King that could have resulted in states getting to resume the death sentence for killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes.
King had asked the court to revisit the issue of juvenile executions through the case of Renaldo Adams, who was 17 when his neighbor, Melissa "Missy" Mills, was raped and stabbed to death in her Montgomery home while four months pregnant.
Adams' punishment became a centerpiece of four Alabama Supreme Court races after Associate Justice Tom Parker cited the case in claiming publicly that judges should sometimes ignore precedents set by the Supreme Court - a position that legal scholars called incorrect.
Parker, trying to unseat Republican Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, was joined by three other Republican judicial candidates in advocating the unusual position, which Parker first promoted in a newspaper opinion piece.
All four candidates on the so-called "Parker slate" lost their primary races against incumbents earlier this month, but Parker remains on the court.
The court's refusal to hear the state's appeal means Adams' case can go back to circuit court in Montgomery, where defense attorney Bryan Stevenson said the inmate will receive a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
Adams, 25, remains on death row for now.
Source : Associated Press
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court refused to use an Alabama case Monday to reinstate the execution of juvenile killers, denying the state's appeal in a sensational slaying that became an issue during the GOP judicial primaries.
Ruling without comment, the justices rejected claims by Alabama Attorney General Troy King that could have resulted in states getting to resume the death sentence for killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes.
King had asked the court to revisit the issue of juvenile executions through the case of Renaldo Adams, who was 17 when his neighbor, Melissa "Missy" Mills, was raped and stabbed to death in her Montgomery home while four months pregnant.
Adams' punishment became a centerpiece of four Alabama Supreme Court races after Associate Justice Tom Parker cited the case in claiming publicly that judges should sometimes ignore precedents set by the Supreme Court - a position that legal scholars called incorrect.
Parker, trying to unseat Republican Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, was joined by three other Republican judicial candidates in advocating the unusual position, which Parker first promoted in a newspaper opinion piece.
All four candidates on the so-called "Parker slate" lost their primary races against incumbents earlier this month, but Parker remains on the court.
The court's refusal to hear the state's appeal means Adams' case can go back to circuit court in Montgomery, where defense attorney Bryan Stevenson said the inmate will receive a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
Adams, 25, remains on death row for now.
Source : Associated Press