USA - Alabama. Judge Jacob Walker sentenced Courtney Lockhart, 26, black, to die

Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker overrode the unanimous recommendation of jurors and sentenced Courtney Lockhart, 26, black, to die for the March 4, 2008 slaying of Lauren Burk, 18, white. In November the jury voted 12-0 to recommend a sentence of life without parole for Lockhart, a veteran of the Iraq War, but the judge has the final say under Alabama law. Walker decided Lockhart should be put to death, noting that the man was suspected in other crimes that jurors didn't know about. Walker said Lockhart was suspected in a string of 5 robberies that occurred in southeast Alabama and west Georgia around the same time as the slaying.