Alabama Governor Commutes Death Sentence of Man Who Didn't Kill Anyone

[ruet]

Source: NBC News

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton to life without parole, saying his execution, which was set for Thursday, would be "unjust."

In 1991, Burton was one of six men involved in the robbery of an AutoZone store in Talladega that ended with the murder of a customer, Doug Battle; Burton did not pull the trigger in the killing.

“Doug Battle was brutally murdered by Derrick DeBruce while shopping in an auto parts store. But DeBruce was ultimately sentenced to life without parole. Charles Burton did not shoot the victim, did not direct the triggerman to shoot the victim and had already left the store by the time the shooting occurred. Yet Mr. Burton was set to be executed while DeBruce was allowed to live out his life in prison,” Ivey said in a statement.

“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances. I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” she said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sentence-commuted-man-alabama-was-set-execute-didnt-kill-anyone-rcna262738

[riversedge]

1. ..Burton's death sentence was possible because of a legal doctrine known as felony murder,

The murder occurred 25 years ago. Burton--now 75 years old, has been punished--and will continue to be in jail until he dies. Even the victim's daughter asked for leniency. I think the Gov did the right thing.


..........Burton’s death sentence was possible because of a legal doctrine known as felony murder, which allows prosecutors to treat anyone involved in certain felonies, such as robbery or burglary, equally responsible for a killing that occurs during the crime, even if they did not commit the act themselves. Ivey had faced a growing chorus of voices asking for mercy for Burton, 75, including the victim's daughter.

Charles "Sonny" Burton.
https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2/rockcms/2026-03/260310-Charles-sonny-Burton-ew-1157a-57cae5.jpg

[Miguelito Loveless]

7. I understand felony murder,

but not how the guy who pulled the trigger escaped a death sentence. I would hazard a guess that the triggerman copped a plea and testified against his accomplices.

[marble falls]

11. Even to the point of being held responsible for deaths of accomplices by police.

[LeftInTX]

13. It's an unfair law.

Now I can see enhanced charges for murder in the commission of a felony (guy who kills while committing a rape, robbery etc) , but "felony murder" seems like a punishment for having bad friends.

I could also see charges for "felony murder" but certainly not a death sentence etc....Maybe 10-20 years, because you really are punishing someone for making bad decisions and having bad friends.


In 1972, I was around a "crime scene" one time and I didn't know it and/or too young to comprehend it. We were at a party and there was a neighbor girl who had runaway there. She was drunk and high and asking guys to "do it" with her. We left around 11. She claimed she was raped later in the evening. We got blamed. The guys who raped her got off. I was 16. The girl was 15-14. The guys all got off because they were 18 and knew better than to talk to the cops. So they picked on these young girls who would had been at the party earlier. They also knew our parents would haul us in.

I literally asked the cop, "Why aren't you going after the guys?".
Cop: "We can't. They're adults and know their rights. So, we're going after you".

What they did in the course of questioning was ask us if alcohol was served. I said yes, but told them I wasn't drinking (I was, but only had one beer) and guess what? I was automatically "guilty" of drinking underage.


Nothing ever happened to the guys.

[twodogsbarking]

2. "I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton"

Ponder that.

[marble falls]

10. But she is OK with burying him in the hole.

[question everything]

3. She actually did something right

[MustLoveBeagles]

4. Good

[Moostache]

5. The death penalty in and of itself is an abomination and not a deterrent.

If we want to allow state sanctioned killings, then turn the perpetrators over to the victim's family for sentencing. If they grant clemency or life in prison instead of revenge, then so be it. I do not want the state - ANY state in the union - to kill in my name or in my absentia, especially in light of the numerous wrongful convictions and sentences that are carried out.

J'accuse...! The entire system is corrupt and immoral.

[marble falls]

9. and life without parole is a chickenshit form of capital punishment.

[summer_in_TX]

14. A life sentence without parole is less costly to society than capital punishment is.

I'd heard that but couldn't cite the data, so I turned to Claude ai to get a comparison. It was too long to include all of it but here's a bit.

Key Studies & Findings
Kansas found death penalty cases cost 70% more than comparable non-capital cases.
California spent an estimated $137–184 million more per year on capital cases than it would on life sentences.
Duke University researchers estimated the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution than life imprisonment.
New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007 partly citing the $253 million spent over 23 years with no executions.

The Bottom Line
The additional costs of capital punishment stem overwhelmingly from legal proceedings, not incarceration. Even accounting for decades of housing a lifer, the death penalty consistently comes out 2–3x more expensive when total system costs are measured.

This is why many states have cited fiscal reasons — alongside moral ones — when abolishing capital punishment."

The death penalty denies those falsely accused or with extenuating circumstances – an abused spouse or assisting a terminally ill loved one unable to commit suicide to die, for instance – of the right to life and the hope of one day the truth coming out, setting them free.

Serial killers are dangerous and should never be where they can hurt anyone again. But if there is a way to prevent it at less cost to society, maybe a life sentence without the possibility of parole is the best choice – if others incarcerated with them can be kept safe from them too.

Yet I remember one in the Austin area, Kenneth McDuff, who was sentenced to the death penalty but when the Supreme Court overturned the death penalty was re-sentenced to life in prison. Then he was paroled on good behavior, only to kill again before finally caught.

[marble falls]

17. Now let's factor in some integrity, ethics, morality, humanity ...

... "Yet I remember one in the Austin area, Kenneth McDuff, who was sentenced to the death penalty but when the Supreme Court overturned the death penalty was re-sentenced to life in prison. Then he was paroled on good behavior, only to kill again before finally caught."

Be careful using anecdotes to try to clinch the argument: it will bring one into the Willie Hortonistic arguments of the RW. The next argument is : what if it were my child/brother/sister/spouse/parent appeal to the emotional. I am much more likely to be killed by a drunk driver than a stranger. I am more like to be murdered by someone I know than by an ex-con.

The reason you can point to this one case is evidence actually of how exceptional his case was. We cannot build policy on exceptions and outliers.

We don't use the courts to help the dead to get justice. There is no justice for the dead. Their corpses are just evidence of an alleged crime. The process is not about gaining retribution the survivors, it's about keeping values and the integrity society, measuring if there is any change in society's norms and values.

This why families do not get to judge or sentence or prosecute or sit on the juries.

[summer_in_TX]

21. Not able to discern whether you support or oppose

the death penalty, although I think you’re implying support. Let me know if I’m guessing wrong.

[marble falls]

22. Do not for a second think I support the death penalty in any sort of fashion for anyone in any situation PERIOD. ...

... if only because finding a "poster child" for the death penalty, like your example Kenneth McDuff, demonstrates our inability to apply it "fairly".

No mention of all those other murderers who met expectations, were paroled and went and sinned no more. That should be considered in your rationale for state sponsored murder in prisons.

I wait for the day we start executing wealthy white first degree murders at the rate we do the poor, the non white. Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath.

[summer_in_TX]

23. Of course those murders who went and sinned no more should be considered.

I oppose the death penalty too, by the way. Just was providing arguments that might reach those who weren't yet in the same place. I had misunderstood your first post I think, and thought you were objecting to victims not receiving "justice."

[Polybius]

24. Sometimes life without parole is necessary though

In particular heinous cases.

[malthaussen]

15. I've always thought that was a good idea. But there's a reason for it, and it has nothing to do with justice.

Most felonies are "crimes against the State," and not "crimes against persons." Even though people are incidentally involved in the crimes (in most crimes, if it comes to that), it is the offense against the majesty, authority, and power of the State that is being prosecuted, and not that this or that person injured or killed another. Bluntly, the victim doesn't enter into the issue at all. Hence, modern "justice" is not a more hands-off version of the private revenge system that prevailed before legal systems evolved, but the State executing its authority to keep the masses in line. That's why, in theory, it's fine for the State to execute an innocent man; because Authority, once invoked, cannot be altered by trivial things like facts.

In this case, of course, the individual slated for execution was guilty of the crime, but had clearly been sentenced to death for reasons that, shall we say, had nothing to do with the merits of the case. The AG apparently decided to rebuke the Court for applying different standards to the same case. She might just as well have done the opposite, since the decision is not based on the merits of the case, but Life in America.

-- Mal

[marble falls]

18. Society changes and evolves its values. Eight year olds are no longer hung for stealing bread, which used to common ...

... in England, why we no longer hang horse thieves and cattle rustlers, why can we buy legal pot when less than 50 years ago simple possession of pot guaranteed 5 years federal time in places like Leavenworth or Lexington.

[malthaussen]

20. Society changes and evolves its *laws*. Values take longer to evolve...

... as we are discovering.

I will absolutely guarantee you there are GOPpers who would just love to hang them some eight-year-olds for stealing a loaf of bread.

-- Mal

[timms139]

6. A Republican thinking

the Iran war will bring the end of the world and trying to atone for all her wrongs .

[marble falls]

8. Jebus must have had a talk with her, now parole him.

[Wonder Why]

12. I'm sure his race had nothing to do with his getting the death sentence. Pffftt! Living in Alabama might be considered a

life sentence so she might as well parole him.

[Joinfortmill]

16. Jeezus, he wasn't even still there. He had left. WTF?

She did the right thing.

[Aristus]

19. Good thing this wasn't Texas or Florida.

Alabama may be a sub-moronic redneck hellhole, but I guess they have some standards after all.