a Baldwin County judge pulled a 36-year-old convicted...

a Baldwin County judge pulled a 36-year-old convicted murderer off death row when prosecutors withdrew their push for capital punishment because of complex legal issues that arose after the man was sentenced.
John Earl "Buckshot" Morrow's death sentence was reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the judge to reconsider his sentence. On April 17, 2002 (see) Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Robert E. Wilters had sentenced Morrow to death when he overruled a jury's April 2002 recommendation that Morrow be spared execution. On Wednesday, Wilters upheld the jury's recommendation. Defense attorneys also argued during trial that Morrow was mentally retarded. Just two months after Wilters' sentence, the United States Supreme Court addressed both the judge-sentencing and mental-retardation issues. Baldwin County Chief Assistant District Attorney Judy Newcomb said prosecutors were withdrawing their request for capital punishment because of the jury's recommendation. "To go back and cure those legal issues is difficult, if not impossible, to do".
Prosecutors accused Morrow of the November 2000 kidnapping and killing of Thomas F. Philyaw, in order to steal him about $1,000.