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Montgomery, Alabama (AP) —Alabama is a state prisoner whose deadly injection was discontinued in February in support of his request by the U.S. Supreme Court to take his personal pastor to the death room. Rescheduled execution.
The Alabama Supreme Court has set a death penalty for 51-year-old Willy B. Smith III, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing 22-year-old Charmalous Johnson in Birmingham in 1991. ..
In February, the state suspended Smith’s execution the night he was to be sentenced to death. The decision was made after the US Supreme Court maintained a lower court injunction, stating that he could not be executed without his personal spiritual adviser in the room with him. The state at the time allowed only prison personnel to enter the room.
Alabama officials acknowledged that the state “restricts access to the execution room to institutional ministers is unlikely to survive further proceedings,” and “his spiritual adviser serves him in that room.” We have reached an agreement with Smith by allowing him to do so, “he submitted to the court. The Alabama Correctional Bureau did not immediately respond to an email asking about a change in procedure.
Prosecutors said Smith kidnapped Johnson with a gun from an ATM, stole $ 80 from her, took her to the graveyard, and shot her behind her head. The victim was the sister of a police detective.
“The murder of Mr Johnson, who was committed in the process of robbery and kidnapping, was as cruel as they came, and there is no doubt that Smith committed those crimes,” said a lawyer at the Directorate General of Lawyers. To do.
The Alabama Supreme Court has set Smith’s October execution date, even though the judge is planning a 2022 trial for claims related to his intellectual abilities.
His lawyer claimed that the state did not require Smith with an IQ of less than 75 to fill out a form that would affect the timing of his execution under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“I’m disappointed that the Alabama Supreme Court has set a date for Mr Smith’s execution at the request of the Attorney General. The lawsuit he filed two years ago is underway after discovery and will be tried early next year. “The federal lawyer said. John Palombi wrote by email.
“The state is trying to cancel the case before it is heard. We will continue to fight this premature attempt to execute Mr Smith,” Palombi added.
The Alabama Prosecutor’s Office has argued that Smith’s rights have been violated.
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