USA - Gov. Brad Henry today approved clemency for Kevin Young

Gov. Brad Henry today approved clemency for Kevin Young. The governor commuted his sentence to life without the possibility of parole as recommended by the state Pardon and Parole Board. Young, 43, was sentenced to death for a deadly May 1996 robbery. The governor last week granted a 30-day stay of execution so he could hear arguments for and against his death sentence. Young had been scheduled to die by lethal injection July 22. A new execution date had been set for Aug. 21. The Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Young, who was convicted of killing Joseph Sutton, 56. The Pardon and Parole Board has recommended clemency 4 times in the past 5 years. Henry has granted a clemency request once since taking office in 2003. Young was sentenced to death in 1996 after exchanging gunfire and killing a man during a botched robbery attempt of an illegal gambling operation. In testimony presented at the board's clemency hearing, Young's attorneys argued the shooting was not premeditated and did not merit a capital sentence. They said their client turned down a plea agreement in his original trial that would have given him a life sentence.