Compiled From Wire Reports
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week, even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.
Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Burton was sentenced to death for the shooting death of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery.
However, another man shot Battle when Burton had left 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. I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” the Republican governor said in a statement.
The decision follows growing public pressure over Burton’s planned execution.
Protestors gathered outside the governor’s mansion in Montgomery on Monday to urge Ivey to spare Burton’s life. A petition with 67,000 signatures to halt the execution was also delivered to Ivey’s office.
Battle’s daughter, Tori Battle, had publicly said she did not want to see Burton’s death sentence carried out.
A clemency petition said six of the eight living jurors from the 1992 trial did not oppose commutation, and three actively urged that Burton’s sentence be reduced.
Burton had previously sought clemency from Ivey. As late as Friday, her office said “at this time, as previously noted, Governor Ivey has no plans to grant clemency,” underscoring how recently the decision changed.
“A jury convicted Mr. Burton of capital murder and unanimously recommended a sentence of death. Over the past 33 years, his conviction and sentence has been reviewed at least nine times, and no court has found any reason to overturn the jury’s decision,” Gina Maiola, Gov. Ivey’s communications director, said Friday.
Ivey granted the commutation after she spoke with a representative of Battle’s family, which is required by law, as well as Alabama Attorney General Steven Marshall, who also supported Burton’s execution.
In a letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, Ivey said she supports capital punishment but argued it must be applied consistently.
“I firmly believe that the death penalty is just punishment for society’s most heinous offenders, as shown by the 25 executions I have presided over as governor,” Ivey wrote.
“In order to ensure the continued viability of the death penalty, however, I also believe that a government’s most consequential action must be administered fairly and proportionately.”
Ivey noted that Derrick DeBruce, who was convicted of pulling the trigger in Battle’s killing, is serving life without parole.
DeBruce was originally given the death penalty, as well, but later saw it commuted.
“Charles Burton did not shoot the victim, did not direct the triggerman to shoot the victim and had already left the store by the time the shooting occurred,” Ivey’s letter said. “Yet Mr. Burton was set to be executed while DeBruce was allowed to live out his life in prison.”
Ivey emphasized that the commutation does not lessen Burton’s responsibility.
“To be clear, Mr. Burton will not be eligible for parole and will rightfully spend the remainder of his life behind bars for his role in the robbery that led to the murder of Doug Battle,” she wrote. “He will now receive the same punishment as the triggerman.”
