Alabama's Nitrogen Gas Execution: Burton's Clemency Plea

0:00On this March 7th in Durham, here's what is making headlines. Charles Sonny Burton faces execution in Alabama on March 12th for a 1991 Autozone robbery that left the customer dead. The 75-year-old insists no one was meant to get hurt, and he only learned afterward that another robber fired the fatal shot. Doug Battle, a 34-year-old army veteran and father of four, was the victim. Derek DeBruce pulled the trigger, and no one disputes that. He got a death sentence at first, but a federal court overturned it due to poor legal help, so he served life in prison until he died there. Now supporters, including folks from Burton's own 1992 trial jury, are pushing Governor Kay Ivey for mercy. Even Battle's daughter, wrote a letter asking for clemency, questioning how it makes sense to execute Burton under the law. Burton's legal team points out key facts by the state's own evidence. He didn't shoot anyone, didn't tell anyone to, and wasn't even inside the store during the robbery. The case has drawn attention, as Alabama prepares to use nitrogen gas for the execution, a method

1:04they started last year. Clemency, please, keep coming, but time is running short ahead of the scheduled date. This story is made possible by our sponsor, See the episode description. It looks like a pillow. It sounds like headphones, built for comfort and sound, S-O-L-I-S-O-L-P-L-O, dot com.