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Kirksey v. State (In re Kirksey)

SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
Jun 23, 2017
1160522 (Ala. Jun. 23, 2017)

Opinion

1160522

06-23-2017

Ex parte Ronnie Lynn Kirksey (In re: Ronnie Lynn Kirksey v. State of Alabama)


Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter . Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter .

PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

(Etowah Circuit Court, CC-07-1130; Court of Criminal Appeals, CR-09-1091) MAIN, Justice.

WRIT DENIED. NO OPINION.

Stuart, C.J., and Bolin, Parker, Shaw, Wise, Bryan, and Sellers, JJ., concur.

Murdock, J., dissents. MURDOCK, Justice (dissenting).

I would grant certiorari review in this capital case. Ronnie Lynn Kirksey, the petitioner, seeks review by this Court of a decision by the Court of Criminal Appeals upholding his sentence of death. The decision by the Court of Criminal Appeals follows certiorari review by the United States Supreme Court of the Court of Criminal Appeals' earlier decision upholding the petitioner's capital conviction and sentence of death and a remand by that Court to the Court of Criminal Appeals for further consideration of the sentence in light of the Supreme Court's holding in Hurst v. Florida, 577 U.S. ___, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016). See Kirksey v. State, 191 So. 3d 810 (Ala. Crim. App. 2015), vacated, 578 U.S. ___, 136 S. Ct. 2409 (2016).

I am concerned that the issue whether the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances in a capital case, as required for the imposition of the death penalty under Alabama law, sufficiently partakes of the nature of a factual inquiry so as to trigger the principles articulated in Hurst. I also believe this Court should further consider the petitioner's argument that the jury's verdict was constitutionally insufficient to support a death sentence because the jury was instructed that its verdict would merely be a recommendation.


Summaries of

Kirksey v. State (In re Kirksey)

SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
Jun 23, 2017
1160522 (Ala. Jun. 23, 2017)
Case details for

Kirksey v. State (In re Kirksey)

Case Details

Full title:Ex parte Ronnie Lynn Kirksey (In re: Ronnie Lynn Kirksey v. State of…

Court:SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA

Date published: Jun 23, 2017

Citations

1160522 (Ala. Jun. 23, 2017)