The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today joined other faith-based and civil rights groups in urging all Americans to sign a petition calling on Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to grant clemency to Charles Burton, a 75-year-old man scheduled to be executed in March for a murder he did not commit.
Mr. Burton has been on death row for more than 30 years for his role in a 1991 robbery at an auto parts store where a customer, Doug Battle, was killed during the crime. He and his accomplice, Derrick DeBruce, along with four other men, took part in the robbery, but it was DeBruce who shot and killed Battle. Burton was outside the store when the killing occurred. DeBruce, now deceased, had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment while Burton remained on death row.
Six of the eight living jurors are not opposed to commutation, according to the clemency petition. Three have said that they never would have recommended a death sentence if DeBruce was receiving a lesser sentence.
SEE: 75-Year-Old Man Faces Execution Despite Not Committing Crime
In a statement, CAIR Alabama Staff Attorney Britton O’Shields said:
“Executing a man who did not commit a murder while commuting the sentence of the man who did is an affront to justice. Although Mr. Burton was involved in the armed robbery in 1991, he did not personally harm anyone and he has paid dearly for his crime, spending the last 35 years of his life behind bars.
“Behind bars, Mr. Burton has transformed his life, found faith and committed to serving as an example of how people can change their lives for the better. Mr. Burton serves as a faith leader and mentor to others at his facility and poses no threat to public safety.
“We urge Governor Ivey to grant Mr. Burton immediate clemency.”
CAIR previously joined a call on Gov. Ivey to grant clemency to Charles Burton.
SEE: CAIR-Alabama Backs Calls for Gov. Ivey to Spare Charles Burton from Execution
END
CONTACT: A. Britton O’Shields, Staff Attorney – Alabama Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Alabama), aoshields@cair.com, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com