Alabama violates the constitutional rights of persons sentenced to death, court rules
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The federal appeals court ruled that Alabama prosecutors violated the constitutional rights of a black man who was sentenced to death in 1990, noting that the black man was rejected by a jury during the trial.
Michael Sockwell, 62, is eligible for a retrial after a panel of three judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday. In 1988, he was 26 years old and was convicted of killing former Montgomery County Sheriff Isaiah Harris.
In the 2-1 opinion, the panel ruled that Alabama prosecutors “repeatedly, purposefully” violated Sockwell’s 14th Amendment rights and rejected potential black jurors who were seen as more sympathetic because they shared the same race.
Prosecutors argued that Harris's wife hired Sokwell to kill Harris because she wanted to cover up the affair she had and charge her husband for insurance money.
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Michael Sockwell, 62, is eligible for a retrial after a panel of three judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. (Alabama through the AP Department of Corrections)
There were no witnesses in the shooting, and Sokwell initially told officials on the videotape that he killed Harris. During the trial, Sokwell testified that officers threatened to beat and kill him before his confession, and they deprived him of food and water.
Sokwell then testified that the man who had an affair with Harris's wife killed the former sheriff. Sockwell also denied having received money to kill Harris.
Sockwell's lawyer said his low IQ had deprived him of the death penalty.
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Sockwell's lawyer said his low IQ had deprived him of the death penalty. (AP)
The jury voted 7-5 to sentence Sokwell to the conviction, but the judge rejected the decision and sentenced him to death. Alabama no longer allows judges to cover jury verdicts in death penalty cases.
Sockwell's lawyer appealed the decision, believing prosecutors unconstitutionally used race as the basis for jury selection and rejected 80% of potential black jurors eligible for trial, while only 20% of white jurors were denied. The appeal pointed out the prosecutor's notes, and she rejected a juror who she described as “a black male, about twenty-three, which would bring him very close to the same race, gender and age”.
Robert J. appointed by President Donald Trump.
The jury voted 7-5 to sentence Sokwell to the conviction, but the judge rejected the decision and sentenced him to death. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, file)
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Former President Bill Clinton-appointed judge Charles Wilson also cited four other cases in the years leading up to the Saukwell case, in which state prosecutors appeared to have illegally rejected black jurors based solely on their race and chose the jury’s “mode” with “discriminatory intentions.”
Luck withdraws the claim that prosecutors have a discriminatory pattern, saying 17% of the jury at Sukwell’s trial were black juries, and 24% of the jury at the beginning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
