A jury last week convicted Marco Antonio Perez of capital murder and then sentenced him to death for the slaying of a Mobile police officer. But that’s not quite the end of the case.
Judge orders hearing to consider whether he can simply affirm jury decision on Marco PerezProsecutor Ashley Rich raised concerns that the verdict might be overturned on appeal if Mobile County Circuit Judge Ben Brooks does not write a detailed sentencing order, as the state’s old death penalty law used to require.
Either way, defense attorney Dennis Knizley agreed, Brooks cannot change the jury’s decision under current law. Prior to 2017, the jury’s decision to impose the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole was merely a recommendation. The judge could accept or override that recommendation but in either case had to write a detailed order weighing all of the aggravating and mitigating factors.
“They had already moved his stuff to a more isolated situation,” he told reporters after the verdict. “I think that is because the capital murder conviction got returned.”
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