Christopher E. Brooks was executed through lethal injection Thursday night at a state prison in Atmore. After the US Supreme Court rejected his appeals, he was scheduled for the death sentence. This is the first one after more than two years of no one being put to death.
He was convicted of rape and beating the woman to death in 1992.The 23-year-old Jo Deann Campbell was killed and sexually assaulted on New Year's Eve of 1992. A dumbbell was use to kill the victim in her own apartment, said the prosecutors. AP stated that the procedure started at 6:06 and the 43-year-old man died at exactly 6:38. His cased was put to rest after waiting for two long decades.
Washington Post reported that Christopher Brooks appealed to the Supreme Court to stop his execution. Brooks also challenged the new procedure Alabama is using for lethal injection procedures. Brooks stated in his argument that the way Alabama practices the death penalty is just like Florida's which was considered unconstitutional last week. Consequently, it makes Alabama's death penalty unconstitutional too, stated Brooks' lawyers.
The Supreme Court denied Brooks' appeals. With the decision of two Supreme Court Justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brooks' death penalty continued. Justice Sontomayor explained in the decision that "procedural obstacles would have prevented us from granting relief."
Alabama.com wrote a report about governor's power to stop executions and why it almost never happens. The report enlightened the readers as to how governors can veto the death penalties and as to why they don't do it. According to the people around the governors, they can see how much the officials are being affected by it. As this is the first one in the last 2 years and more, Governor Bentley said it was a very hard decision. He added that a human being's life is on the line as they decide.
Bentley said he believes in his people and he trusts the law. He is there to apply the law and not stop it.
