The Alabama Supreme Court set an Oct. 21 execution date for 51-year-old Willie B. Smith III, who was convicted of the 1991 kidnapping and murder of 22-year-old Sharma Ruth Johnson in Birmingham. In February, the state called off Smith’s execution on the night he was to have been put to death. The decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court maintained a lower court injunction, saying he could not be executed without his personal spiritual advisor present in the room with him. The Alabama Supreme Court set an October execution date for Smith even though a judge has scheduled a 2022 trial on claims related to his intellectual capacity. We will continue to fight against this premature attempt to execute Mr. Smith.“The Alabama attorney general’s office has disputed that Smith’s rights were violated.

Source: thestar September 01, 2021 22:59 UTC