The Alabama Supreme Court last week eliminated mandatory “plain error” review and left the ACLU of Alabama saying the change will strip the constitutional rights of people on Alabama Death Row.
NEW!A drunk lawyer at trial. A dropping of the N-word during closing arguments. These are things that have been overturned by Alabama’s “plain error” rule on appeals; but a new rule change might mean these instances wouldn’t be caught by the appeals courts.
Alison Mollman, ACLU of Alabama’s senior legal counsel, said the new rule will have dire consequences. “The Alabama Supreme Court’s appellate rule change is unnecessary, dangerous, and will lead to wrongfully convicted people being executed.” According to both the ACLU and EJI, the court made the change without guidance from its Rules Committee. Three Justices dissented, writing“We had this rule for 44 years. Our courts and our legislature recognized we needed it,” said Mollman. “Six people changed the rule we’ve had for 44 years. We should all be uncomfortable with that.”
The rule change puts more pressure on trial lawyers, who may miss a chance at objections “and the consequences are going to be deadly.”Justices Greg Shaw, Alisa Kelli Wise, and Tommy Bryan dissented.
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