Correct. The jury instruction likely confused the jurors into thinking they didn't have to find that Sonny had intent to kill.
11.03.2026 00:49
👍 5
🔁 0
💬 0
📌 0
Correct. The jury instruction likely confused the jurors into thinking they didn't have to find that Sonny had intent to kill.
Yes!!! Governor Ivey has removed Sonny Burton from death row. Thanks so much to all the Undisclosed listeners & everyone else who reached out to the Governor!
For proof that this can work, you need look no further than the calls our listeners made to Governor Ivey after our Rocky Myers series, which contributed to her commuting his sentence & taking him off of death row: eji.org/news/alabama...
Here's Sonny's site, where you can get the details about reaching out to Governor Ivey: www.charlessonnyburton.com
This week's new Undisclosed has a call to action! We're asking listeners to contact Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to stop Thursday's scheduled execution of Sonny Burton: audioboom.com/posts/887130...
In pertinent part, it provides as follows:
Yes!: "Legislature passes bill to help Oregonians convicted on 'junk science'": www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/l...
"I didn’t even know anybody was shot till DeBruce told me he had shot a guy after we left the store," Burton said. "I was so mad.": www.newsweek.com/alabama-man-...
Sonny admits being involved in the robbery that led to Derrick DeBruce fatally shooting Doug Battle, but he had left the store before the shooting. DeBruce has had his sentence reduced to life without parole.
"His attorneys note that despite 33 years on death row, he remains a positive presence on the unit, is well regarded by prison staff and officials, and is a strong source of guidance and support for younger men both inside and outside the prison." deathpenaltyinfo.org/weeks-ahead-...
Today, we're recording a special Undisclosed with the legal team for Sonny Burton, who faces execution on 3/12 despite 6/8 living jurors & the victim's daughter calling for clemency. Here is how you can act now to save Sonny's life: www.charlessonnyburton.com/action
"Alabama ignoring ‘incontrovertible’ DNA test in push to execute innocent man, Innocence Project says": www.al.com/news/montgom...
Good point, and it's the same crime.
Should there be an exception to Double Jeopardy when someone confesses to a crime after already being acquitted? I discuss an Australian case raising this question in today's new Undisclosed Unfiltered: audioboom.com/posts/886962...
George Calicut Jr., "56, has long professed his innocence in the murder of Virgie Perkins — there were no witnesses or physical evidence against him — and said he never saw his purported confession until confronted with it at trial."
"A Detroit-area judge has erased a 1999 murder conviction after prosecutors acknowledged that a confession was coerced by a rogue police officer": www.oskaloosa.com/news/nationa...
So proud to be the faculty advisor to the new @sc.edu Undergraduate Law Journal. The Founding Staff is filled with diligent, conscientious, and downright impressive students interested in the law!
Trying out pickled garlic & red onion. Fingers crossed:
They "also presented forensic evidence further establishing that Mr. Rümmer-Kunkel could not have been Mr. Fassett’s killer."
"Mr. Rümmer-Kunkel’s legal team presented newly discovered evidence that the State violated Mr. Rümmer-Kunkel’s due process rights by withholding witness statements that would have contradicted the State’s timeline of the case and established Mr. Rümmer-Kunkel’s innocence."
Judge vacates Werner Rümmer-Kunkel’s 1995 murder conviction: www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/news/judge-v...
Possible timeline: Crime at 6am, neighbor comes outside & smells smoke at 8:40/8:45am, fire is called into 911 at 11:22am. I don't see how there can be an alibi w/out knowing the time of the attack.
I see that he was at the bank at 9:12am and that there was some contradictory information/changing stories about his parents & a co-worker seeing him at 7:30ish. But again, we don't have any idea when the crime was committed.
Yeah, I'm still researching the case. Are you aware of such an alibi? All I know is that Baker made a call at 9:46pm & the smoke was first smelled at 8:40/8:45am when the neighbor went outside. Given how long it took the fire to develop, it seems like there's a wide range of times for the attack.
But why would we think the smoke started soon before the neighbor came outside? He smelled smoke at 8:40/8:45am & 911 wasn't called about the fire until 11:22am, over 2.5 hours later. That's a slow developing fire & the kitchen stuff could have happened at 8am, but also 7am, 6am, etc.
But my main question is how there can be an alibi when we don't know the time of the attack. All we know is the neighbor smelled smoke at around 8:40 or 8:45 when he went outside, with 911 being called at 11:22am. The attack could be at 5am, 6am, etc., right?
Am I right on that, or is there anything that rules out the crime being committed at, say, 6am?
Thanks. I'll do a deeper dive. But my main point is that we don't even know when the crime was committed, right? 5am, 6am, 7am, etc. All we know is that the fire was seemingly set before 7:40/7:45am and eventually called in at 11:22am.
Looking through testimony, a neighbor across from Tara Baker's home said they smelled smoke between 8:40 and 8:45am, and 911 was called about a fire at her home at 11:22am.