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Alabama Supreme Court Hears Challenge Over Parole Eligibility in Pharmacy Robbery Case
Summary
In Ex parte Antonio Spencer, the court considered whether the Habitual Felony Offender Act (HFOA) or the pharmacy robbery penalty controls parole eligibility for a life sentence. Petitioner's counsel said the trial court failed to exercise mandatory discretion; the State urged a harmonious reading. The court took the case under submission.
The Supreme Court of Alabama heard argument in Ex parte Antonio Spencer over whether the Habitual Felony Offender Act or the pharmacy-robbery penalty statute governs parole eligibility when a life sentence is imposed. Petitioner's counsel, Chris Young Peter, told the court the trial judge "did not exercise the mandatory discretion" required by the HFOA and that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred by treating life-without-parole as mandatory.
Why it matters: the dispute turns on how two criminal statutes interact. The HFOA (cited at argument as section 13a-5-9(c)(3)) provides that a defendant…
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