---
title: 'NEW VOICES: Former Judge Changes Mind on Death Sentence as Execution Approaches'
description: 'Retired Alabama Judge Loyd Little (pictured) recently changed his mind about a death sentence he imposed on Derrick Mason in 1995 for a murder during a…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-voices-former-judge-changes-mind-on-death-sentence-as-execution-approaches'
section: news
date: '2011-09-13T15:02:50-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:30:40-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! Retired **Alabama** Judge Loyd Little (pictured) recently changed his mind about a death sentence he imposed on **Derrick Mason** in 1995 for a murder during a convenience store robbery. Mason is scheduled for execution on September 22. Judge Little wrote a letter to be submitted to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley requesting that Mason's sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole. The judge explained the change in his thinking: "Years of experience and seeing so many other capital murder cases where it was imposed and where it was not imposed. . . . I realized it really was not the right decision." Judge Little had only been on the bench six months when he heard Mason's case. In Alabama, the jury makes only a recommendation regarding sentencing. The trial judge makes the actual life or death decision.

Retired Madison County District Attorney Tim Morgan, who prosecuted Mason, criticized the judge: "I find it to be kind of cowardly now that he's retired and no one has the chance to run against him."

(K. Clines, "[Retired Madison County judge who sentenced convenience store killer to death changes his mind](http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/09/retired_madison_county_judge_w.html)," Huntsville Times, September 8, 2011). See [**New Voices**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/new-voices) and [**Arbitrariness**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/policy/arbitrariness).