An Alabama inmate was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday after a deadlocked Supreme Court refused to stay his execution, The Associated Press reported. The inmate, Ronald B. Smith, had been sentenced to death by a judge despite a jury's recommendation of life without parole.
Mr. Smith was convicted in 1995 of murdering Casey Wilson, a convenience store clerk, the previous year. By a vote of 7 to 5, the jury rejected the death penalty and recommended a sentence of life without parole. The judge overrode that recommendation, sentencing Mr. Smith to death.
[...] In January, the Supreme Court struck down Florida's capital sentencing system, which also allowed judicial overrides of jury recommendations of life sentences. "The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,"
Should judges be allowed to overrule a jury's decision for sentencing?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 12 2016, @11:08AM
How about Jury Nullification?
Jury: We find Little Timmy guilty of shoplifting a candy bar worth $2. But we don't find the death penalty to be reasonable, his parents should pay for the candy bar, and ground him for a week.
Judge: Guily. Death penalty it is.
vs:
Judge: If you find Little Timmy guilty, he will get the death penalty.
Jury: Not guilty.