Kenneth Smith is on Alabama's Death Row for the killing of Elizabeth Sennett .Citing late legal challenges and a family that has “waited overlong to see justice done,” the Alabama Attorney General’s Office argued Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court should not block this week’s execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith.
Smith’s lawyers argued that in 1996 a judge sentenced Smith to death despite a jury’s 11-1 recommendation of life imprisonment. Alabama in 2017 became the last state tothe practice of letting judges override a jury’s sentencing recommendation in death penalty cases, but the change was not retroactive and therefore did not affect death row prisoners like Smith.
In its response Tuesday night, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office stated Smith is bringing up the argument too late. “Smith’s delay in bringing his Eighth Amendment challenge in the Alabama Supreme Court, his failure to comply with Alabama law in doing so, and his decision to bring this current challenge on the eve of execution all weighgranting him the relief he seeks,” according to court documents filed by the Attorney General.
Smith also isn’t the only one “whose interests are at stake,” the Attorney General argues. “The State of Alabama has a well-established interest in seeing that executions are carried out in a timely manner. Perhaps more importantly, Liz Sennett, Smith’s victim, has two children who have already waited overlong to see justice done. Rewarding Smith’s gamesmanship with additional delay at this late hour would work harm to those interests,” the attorney general states.
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