An Alabama death row inmate plans to represent himself in a final appeal of his sentence, weeks before his execution.
Gregory Hunt, convicted of the 1998 murder and sexual assault of Karen Lane, will argue that he killed but did not sexually assault Lane, which would reduce his charge from capital murder to murder and make him ineligible for the death penalty.
“I think that Greg is at peace no matter what happens,” Pastor Jeff Hood, who works with inmates on Alabama’s death row, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “I think he is prepared to die no matter what happens, but he wants people to know that he is sorry for killing Karen Lane but that he did not sexually assault her.”
Messages were sent to both the governor’s office and the Alabama attorney general’s office seeking comment.
Hunt was convicted on three counts of capital murder by a jury in 1990 and by an 11-1 vote, recommended that he be put to death.
The first count dealt with killing Lane during the course of a robbery while the other two counts related to allegations that he sexually abused her.
Federal and state courts in recent years have been unwilling to stop Alabama executions, even in the face of evidence of prior issues with capital punishment in the state.
Hunt, who plans to represent himself, will ask the court to delay his execution and argue his trial attorneys did not present mitigating circumstances from his background or evidence that he did not sexually assault Lane.
He has stated similar claims in his appeals in the past that were rejected by the courts.
According to Hood, Hunt is only challenging capital murder charges related to sexual abuse allegations and not the one pertaining to the robbery.
“When you look at the transcripts, the primary aggravating factor they (prosecutors) focused on was sexual assault,” Hood said. “And this is the problem with these cases. The state gets to move the goalposts.”
Read more at AlabamaReflector.com.