USA - Alabama. At the end of retrial, Demetrius Avery Jackson Jr., 28, Black, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Demetrius Avery Jackson Jr., 28, Black, whose death penalty was reversed on Dec. 17, 2010 (see) today was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Jefferson County Circuit Judge David Carpenter cited negative influence from Jackson's father and testimony from Smith's family members as contributing factors in his decision to amend the sentence. Jackson was convicted of capital murder in the Oct. 23, 2006, fatal shooting of police officer Mary Smith. He also was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Officer Erick Burpo. Jackson had been on Alabama's death row since 2008, when Jefferson County Circuit Judge Teresa Petelos overrode a Bessemer Cutoff jury's recommendation that he be sentenced to life without parole (see March 26, 2008). On March 29, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the case to Jefferson County, asking that the judge reconsider the sentence after reweighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Jackson was represented on appeal by attorneys with the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery nonprofit that focuses on disparities in the Alabama legal system.