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ALABAMA(USA): MARCUS BENN SPARED DEATH SENTENCE
October 31, 2016: Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd re-sentenced Marcus Benn to life without the possibility of parole.
Jurors found Benn, 40, Black, guilty and on October 9, 2014 recommended in a 10-2 vote that he be sentenced to death in the Dec. 27, 2010 shooting deaths of Jaime Luna Gutierrez, Jose Manuel Martinez Calderon, and Evelyn Peralta.
Judge Todd followed the juror's recommendation and sentenced Benn to death in a written order on Jan. 29, 2015, following a hearing. On June 3 of this year the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Todd to re-sentence Benn because she should have sentenced him in open court, not in a written order.
Todd held a hearing on June 20 and re-sentenced Benn to death. But then the appeals court came back and said that it had not issued the certificate of judgement of its June 3 order until 2 days after Todd's re-sentencing.
Therefore the re-sentencing was premature and null because at the time of the re-sentencing the appeals court still had jurisdiction in the case. Benn's attorneys filed a renewed motion asking Todd to impose a life without parole sentence on Benn.
Benn also was convicted of murder in 1994 and was sentenced to life, but was released on parole in 2009. (Source: al.com, 31/10/2016)
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