Alabama Attorney General Troy King (pic­tured) recent­ly stripped a cap­i­tal mur­der case from vet­er­an Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens because Owens expressed con­cerns in a court hear­ing about the fair­ness of an inmate’s death sen­tence. Owens tes­ti­fied that it would be dis­pro­por­tion­ate to exe­cute LaSamuel Gamble for killing two peo­ple more than a decade ago in light of the fact that his co-defen­dant, and the crime’s trig­ger­man, Marcus Presley, had his death sen­tence reduced under the U.S. Supreme Court rul­ing that out­lawed the death penal­ty for juve­nile offend­ers. Earlier this month, Shelby County Circuit Judge J. Michael Joiner agreed and ordered a new sen­tenc­ing hear­ing for Gamble, not­ing, ​“It is the re-sen­tenc­ing of Presley to a non-death sen­tence that makes Gamble’s sen­tence of death con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly unfair.” Though King voiced sim­i­lar con­cerns about the dis­par­i­ties that spar­ing juve­niles could cause in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, he now says he will appeal Judge Joiner’s rul­ing and is tak­ing the case away from Owens.

King’s 2004 brief, backed by oth­er states that sup­port­ed keep­ing the death penal­ty for juve­nile offend­ers, stat­ed that a deci­sion ban­ning the prac­tice would make sen­tenc­ing Gamble to death for the mur­ders a ​“bizarre result” since he did­n’t kill any­one. King is now crit­i­ciz­ing Owens for rais­ing sim­i­lar points dur­ing his tes­ti­mo­ny. King called Owens’ actions ​“incred­i­ble and out­ra­geous” and stat­ed that the District Attorney ​“act­ed on the side of the crim­i­nal” when he deliv­ered his tes­ti­mo­ny last year. Though Owens and King are both Republicans, Owens was among 27 Alabama District Attorneys who did not back King’s 2006 elec­tion bid. King insists that Owens’ choice to endorse his Democratic oppo­nent did not play a role in his deci­sion to take over the Gamble case.
(Associated Press, September 13, 2007). See Arbitrariness, Juveniles, and New Voices.

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