Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes the Innocence Inquiry Commission to review certain death penalty convictions.

Highlights:

• Establishes the Innocence Inquiry Commission to review certain death penalty convictions (Sec. 1).

• Requires the commission to consist of 9 members, including a circuit court judge appointed by the Circuit Judges Association that will serve as the chair of the commission (Sec. 4).

• Requires the commission to employ a director who helps with setting standards for cases accepted for review, coordinates investigations for cases, and maintains records (Sec. 6).

• Authorizes the commission to request the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to appoint a 3-judge panel if they find sufficient evidence of a “claim of factual innocence” that warrants judicial review (Sec. 10).

• Defines a “claim of factual innocence” as a claim on behalf of a living individual convicted of a capital crime asserting the complete innocence of any criminal responsibility for that specific capital crime (Sec. 2).

• Requires 5 out of the 9 members to vote that there is sufficient evidence of a claim of factual innocence to warrant judicial review if the original plea was not guilty (Sec. 9).

• Requires members to unanimously vote that there is sufficient evidence of a claim of factual innocence to warrant judicial review if the original plea was guilty (Sec. 9).

• Authorizes the 3-judge panel to dismiss all or some of the charges only if it unanimously votes that there is “clear and convincing evidence” that a convicted individual is innocent of the charges (Sec. 10).

Full Bill Text