Court Upholds 3 Ala Death Penalty Cases

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – A state appeals court is upholding the convictions and death sentences of two men convicted of killing police officers.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued opinions Friday denying appeals by Kerry M. Spencer and Bart Wayne Johnson.

Spencer was sentenced to death in the slayings of three Birmingham police officers in 2005. Jurors recommended life without parole, but a judge sentenced Spencer to die.

Johnson was convicted of killing a Pelham police officer in 2009. A Shelby County judge had to issue a new sentencing order for Johnson, and the appeals court says that order was sufficient to explain the penalty.

The court also upheld conviction and death sentence of James Earl Walker, who was convicted of killing an 87-year-old woman in Houston County in 2003.

 

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