Appeals Court Reverses Three Murder Convictions
An Alabama appeals court has reversed capital murder convictions and death sentences in cases from Mobile, Houston and Morgan counties.
In rulings Friday, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction of Derrick Shawn Penn in Mobile. He was found guilty of the shooting deaths of his estranged wife, Janet Penn, and her boyfriend, Demetrius Powe, in 2009.
The appeals court also reversed the conviction of Tawuan Townes for killing Christopher Woods during a burglary in Dothan in 2008 and the conviction of Marqueze Taron Smith for the kidnapping, robbery and killing of Jeremy Black in Morgan County in 2003.
The appeals court said errors occurred in all three trials. The defendants can be tried again.
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