MONROEVILLE, Ala. – An Alabama inmate on death row is set to receive a reduced sentence after his attorneys argued that a black woman was wrongfully excluded from a jury during the inmate's trial more than 20 years ago.
The Montgomery Advertiser (http://on.mgmadv.com/29rYJw5 ) reports that the case into the 1991 death of 69-year-old Clarene Haskey will be reopened Thursday afternoon in a Monroe County courtroom. Steven Hall is scheduled to plead guilty to the murder and receive a reduced sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
More than 20 years after the conclusion of the 1994 trial, U.S. District Judge Callie Granade wrote that prosecutors used a pretext to exclude black potential juror Minnie Lett. Prosecutors used nine of their 14 strikes against black potential jury members.
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Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
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