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Thread: Alfonzo Morris - Alabama Death Row

  1. #1
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    Alfonzo Morris - Alabama Death Row




    Facts of the Crime:

    Was sentenced to death in 2003 and, again, in 2008 for beating Miriam Rochester to death while robbing her and burglarizing her home in 1997.

  2. #2
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    June 20, 2008

    Man receives death sentence for killing elderly woman

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A Jefferson County judge has sentenced a 47-year-old man to die by lethal injection for killing an 85-year-old woman in her home in 1997.

    Friday's sentence marked the second time since 2003 that Alfonzo Morris has received the death penalty for fatally beating Miriam Rochester during a burglary at her home in East Lake.

    Morris' first conviction was overturned by a state appeals court in 2005.

    In May, Morris was convicted again of capital murder and jurors recommended the death penalty on a 10-2 vote. Circuit Judge Tommy Nail upheld the recommendation.

    Morris has maintained his innocence.

    http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8531168

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's US Supreme Court orders, Morris' petition for a writ of certiorari was DENIED.

  4. #4
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Appeals court affirms Birmingham man's conviction, death sentence in slaying of 85-year-old woman

    A Jefferson County man, twice convicted and sentenced to death in the 1997 beating death of an 85-year-old woman, lost an appeal last week.

    The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday affirmed a circuit judge's dismissal of Alfonzo Morris' appeal.

    Morris, who is being held on Alabama Death Row at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, has had three trials.

    Morris was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for Miriam Rochester's Feb. 25, 1997 murder, but the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction and sentence after determining Morris was denied his rights to due process and a fair trial because he was not provided with funds to hire an independent mental-health expert.

    Before his retrial, a circuit judge held a hearing and determined Morris was not intellectually disabled.

    On April 7, 2008, Morris was again tried for the two counts of capital murder. The jury was unable to reach a verdict, and the trial court declared a mistrial.

    A third trial began May 5, 2008 and Morris was again convicted and sentenced to death based on the recommendation of the jury.

    Rochester, who weighed 92 pounds and used a walker, was found in the hall of her Second Avenue South home. Evidence showed she had been knocked to the floor with a blunt object in the living room and she moved to the hallway before receiving the fatal blow.

    The house had been ransacked, and the killer had taken time to eat some lunch meat, drink a beer and smoke a cigarette inside.

    Morris was linked to the crime by DNA evidence. He also had some of the victim's jewelry when he was arrested about four hours after the murder.

    http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/in..._birmingh.html
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Alabama Supreme Court won't review cases of two men on death row, convicted of separate killings in Birmingham

    By Ivana Hrynkiw
    AL.com

    The Alabama Supreme Court won't review the cases of two men currently on Alabama Death Row.

    In orders issued Friday, the court denied a writ of certiorari-- or a request to review-- the case of Willie Earl Scott. The court also quashed a writ of certiorari for Alfonzo Morris.

    Scott, now 38, was convicted in the Sept. 11, 1999 rape and asphyxiation death of 10-year-old Latonya Sager, who was found dead in her bed at her home in Birmingham's Norwood neighborhood.

    In 2010, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his conviction and death sentence, but the Alabama Supreme Court said that the opinion of a Jefferson County judge upholding the conviction was almost identical to briefs filed by prosecutors. The court told the county judge to Scott's case and write a new opinion.

    Morris, 57, was twice convicted and sentenced to death in the 1997 beating death of an 85-year-old woman.

    Miriam Rochester, who weighed 92 pounds and used a walker, was found in the hall of her Second Avenue South home on Feb. 25, 1997. Evidence showed she had been knocked to the floor with a blunt object in her living room, but had made it to a hallway before receiving the fatal blow. Her house was ransacked, and her killer stayed to eat, drink, and smoke in the home.

    Morris was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for the crime, but the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction and sentence after determining Morris was denied a fair trial because he was not given money to hire an independent mental-health expert.

    In April 2008, Morris was again tried for the two counts of capital murder, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict and the trial court declared a mistrial. His third and final trial began the next month, and Morris was again convicted and sentenced to death based on the recommendation of the jury.

    In 2016, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed a circuit judge's dismissal of the inmate's appeal.

    http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/in...ont_rev_4.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On September 25, 2018, Morris filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/al...cv01578/167726

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