Alabama is preparing to execute death row inmate Charles Lee “Sonny” Burton on March 12, prompting calls from advocates for the state to halt the execution. 

Attorneys representing Burton asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case last week. The attorneys say that, during his trial, Burton was deprived of his right to counsel and that the state introduced inadmissible evidence during the trial. Burton’s attorneys are also asking for a stay of execution while the Supreme Court reviews the case.

Burton was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of Doug Battle during a robbery at a Talladega AutoZone. Burton did not shoot Battle, nor was he in the store when the robbery occurred. However, Burton was involved in the robbery and, during his trial, the state was able to convict him of felony murder due to his culpability in the murder.

The man who shot Battle during the robbery, Derrick DeBruce, was also sentenced to death for the murder, but his sentence was overturned in 2014 when the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he did not receive adequate legal representation during his trial.

Burton’s attorneys claim that, during his trial, the court forced his defense attorneys to call two of his co-defendants to testify, even though it was against their best strategic judgement — thus, depriving Burton of his right to counsel. While testifying, the co-defendants said they did not know Burton, and the state then introduced otherwise inadmissible evidence to show that they were lying. 

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office filed a response in opposition to Burton’s plea to the Supreme Court, saying that overturning his sentence would undermine the public’s trust in the justice system and that Burton’s execution “was long overdue.”

However, many have called for Burton’s execution to be halted. Burton’s attorneys have confirmed that, of the eight living jurors who issued a verdict in Burton’s trial, six support having his sentence commuted to life without parole. 

The murder victim’s daughter, Tori Battle, also has spoken out against the execution, writing, “I lost my father to violence. Another death will not bring him back. It will only deepen my trauma and the moral cost we all share.”

Burton’s supporters have highlighted that Burton suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, which has kept him wheelchair bound. Burton’s condition is so severe that he often wears a helmet to protect his head during frequent falls.

Advocates have also pointed out that the state is planning to execute Burton, a Muslim man, during Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic year, which Burton himself has said he is upset by.

“I was sad and disappointed but I’d like to believe that (Ivey) wasn’t aware that March 12 is during Ramadan. I’d like to think she didn’t know because she’s a Christian woman,” Burton told al.com.

As of now, Ivey has not announced any plans to grant Burton clemency, and his execution by nitrogen gas is expected to go on as planned on Thursday.

Alabama top stories in brief

Supreme Court denies Alabama’s appeal of anti-panhandling law

• The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to hear Alabama’s appeal of a lower court ruling that said law enforcement officials in the state could not arrest homeless individuals for panhandling. 
• The request was made in the case Taylor v. Singleton, which began in 2017 when Jonathan Singleton, a homeless man in Montgomery, challenged state laws that criminalized public begging and soliciting. The plaintiff in the case claimed that these laws violated First Amendment rights to free speech.
• In 2023, a judge in the U.S. Middle District of Alabama ruled that the two laws in question were unconstitutional. In September, a judge in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals also found the laws to be unconstitutional.
• However, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed another appeal with the Supreme Court last year arguing that “vagrancy” has commonly been criminalized throughout American history, and should not be considered constitutional free speech.
• The Supreme Court did not give a reason it chose not to hear the appeal, as is custom. 

Birmingham-Southern College campus sold

• Birmingham-Southern College’s former 192-acre campus was sold last week to U.S. Homeland Security. 
• The college closed in 2024 due to financial failure.
• Homeland Security purchased the campus, located on the west side of Birmingham, with the intent to make it into a training center for the U.S. Coast Guard. The center is slated to bring 1,200 recruits and 400 staff members to the city.
• The North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church headquarters had remained on the school’s campus even after the Methodist-affiliated college closed. The conference plans to move their headquarters to North Shelby County in light of the sale, they announced. 

Millions in oil spill funds to build new marsh on Mobile Bay

• $15.7 million in oil spill settlement funds will be used to develop a new marsh habitat on the western shore of Mobile Bay.
• The project, called the Salt Aire Shoreline Restoration Project, will create around 30 acres of marsh habitat and stabilize a portion of shoreline that has faced decades of erosion.
• The money comes from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, a fund managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation made up of settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill — from which the state received roughly $2 billion.
• Since the settlement was reached in 2015, the state has spent more than $1 billion on coastal restoration projects. 
• Work on the Salt Aire project is set to begin in April and last for about 10 months. 

Lawmakers pass bill requiring English proficiency for commercial drivers

• Alabama lawmakers passed a law last week that requires commercial drivers to be proficient in English.
• The bill, SB242, creates a $1,000 fine for operators and a $2,000 fine for drivers if a driver who receives a traffic citation is not proficient in English. Fines are doubled for any subsequent offenses.
• The bill also makes presenting a false commercial driver’s license a Class D felony punishable by one to five years in prison.
• The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, has said the idea for the bill came after an 18-wheeler accident in Thomasville killed two people after crashing into multiple cars at a stop light. The driver of the truck is a Ukrainian man who was in the U.S. on a work visa. 

Our articles you might have missed

• Check out our February Legislative update, where we cover some of the key bills that were passed in February, and three bills you should keep an eye on for March.

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