Montgomery, Alaa.. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was scheduled to be executed this week even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.
Ivey commuted the sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton was sentenced to death For the shooting death of Doug Battle during a robbery in 1991. However, Battle was shot by another man when Burton left the building. The shooter’s death sentence was later commuted on appeal to life imprisonment.
“I cannot in good conscience proceed with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “I believe it would be unjust for a participant in this crime to be executed without the participant who pulled the trigger to be executed.”