Man sentenced to death over jury’s wish seeks execution stay

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala (AP) — Lawyers for Alabama death row inmate have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the man’s upcoming execution. Defense lawyers say the inmate, Kenneth Eugene Smith, was sentenced to death by a judge despite a jury’s near unanimous recommendation that he serve life in prison. Smith is set to be executed Thursday for the 1988 murder-for-hire killing of a pastor’s wife. Smith could not receive the death sentence after a similar jury recommendation today. In 2017, Alabama became the last U.S. state to abolish the practice of letting judges override a jury’s sentencing recommendation in death penalty cases.