USA - Delaware. The Board of Pardons is recommending that the death sentence for Robert A. Gattis, 49, black, be commuted to life in prison

In an unprecedented 4-1 decision announced Sunday, the Delaware Board of Pardons is recommending that the death sentence for Robert A. Gattis, 49, black, be commuted to life in prison. It will now be up to Gov. Jack Markell to decide if he will accept the board's recommendation to spare Gattis' life or if he will allow the execution Gattis by lethal injection to go forward as planned early Friday. The Board of Pardons explained its decision in a press statement, saying that the jury recommendation that Gattis die for the May 1990 murder of Shirley Slay was not unanimous. The vote was 10-2. Board members wrote that they were troubled by the disparity in sentences that have been handed down for essentially the same crime, with some others receiving less than life sentences. The board's recommendation for clemency comes with the stipulation that Gattis give up all remaining appeals and spend the rest of his life in prison. Ss far as anyone can tell, the Delaware Board of Pardons has never recommended commutation for an inmate facing the death penalty. Since 1991, Delaware has executed 15 men. The most recent was Robert Jackson, who was executed on July 29, 2011. At trial in 1992, police and prosecutors charged Gattis killed Slay because she wanted to break off their relationship. Gattis' two sons appeared at the hearing and pleaded for their father's life, saying he was a "good man" who has been a positive influence on their lives. Attorneys representing Gattis also presented the board with evidence of horrific physical and sexual abuse that Gattis suffered as a child that was never heard by the jury or judge 20 years ago. In the news release announcing its recommendation, the Board of Pardons wrote that Gattis' crimes were horrific "and we find no fault in how this case was handled by the prosecutors and judges involved." But a majority concluded that even if half of what Gattis' attorneys presented about the abuse Gattis suffered as a child is true, it represented "sufficiently mitigating facts to warrant consideration for clemency."