The testimony in the sentencing phase of Benito Alberran’s trial for killing Huntsville police officer Daniel Golden concluded today. Now the jury is charged with recommending a sentence of either the death penalty or life in prison. Earlier the jury convicted Alberran, who was in the U.S. illegally, of murdering Golden back in 2005.

The details of how Golden was killed are particularly horrific. Golden was responding to a domestic disturbance when Alberran brandished a gun. Shots were fired and Golden attempted to return fire when his gun jammed. Alberran shot Golden in the chest from a distance of a little over an arm’s length. While Golden lay on the ground pleading for his life Alberran stood over him and shot him twice in the face at point blank range .

This wasn’t simply a murder. It was an execution. A heartless, cold blooded execution.

Golden is survived by a wife and two children.

During the sentencing hearings the defense presented a video of Alberran’s 11-year-old daughter lamenting that she hasn’t been able to visit her cop-killer father because children must be 12 to visit someone in the Madison County Jail. She said that when she turns 12 next year the first thing she will do is visit her father.

I’m sorry, but I do not find that at all compelling. Unfortunately for Officer Golden’s children there isn’t a mere age restriction preventing them from visiting their father. Because of Benito Alberran they will never see their father again. For every weeping relative or friend pleading for Alberran’s life to be spared all I can think about are their counterparts in the Golden family who will never see their loved one again regardless of how many tears are shed.

I am strongly in favor of the death penalty in this case. Alberran’s guilt is not in question; the murder took place in broad daylight with numerous witnesses. The Innocence Project will not have to spend 10 seconds reviewing this case to determine Alberran is guilty. To let him live his life out in prison would be a grave injustice. I only wish they could drag him straight out of the courtroom and get it over with immediately.

Update: The jury made the right decision: they recommended the death penalty.

From AL.com:

Two Huntsville police officers were indicted Friday for allegedly tampering with evidence, falsifying reports and attempting to possess drugs, the department announced Tuesday.

Deputy Chief Andy Jackson said the charges stemmed from an internal investigation into alleged policy violations.

Officers Wesley Little and Ryan Moore of the north precinct were arrested and booked in the Madison County metro jail. They have since been released on bond.

Little was charged with attempting to possess a controlled substance, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, tampering with physical evidence and false reporting to law enforcement authorities.

Moore was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and two counts of attempt to possess a controlled substance.

…

Public Safety Director Rex Reynolds said in a statement that the investigation “did not reveal any evidence that existing cases made by either officer were tainted by illegal planting of evidence.”

For some reason I don’t think Reynolds’ statement alone is going to be enough to convince defense attorneys that their client’s cases shouldn’t be reexamined.

Kudos to the officers who turned in their (allegedly) corrupt partners.

From the Tuscaloosa News:

The Alabama House has approved a bill to add crimes against people because of their sexual orientation to the state’s hate crimes law.

The bill by Rep. Alvin Holmes, a Montgomery Democrat, generated heated criticism last year and did not get enough votes to come up for passage. The bill passed Tuesday by a close 46-44 vote with no discussion.

The bill now goes to the Senate where passage is doubtful with only two days remaining in the regular session.

Holmes said the state’s current hate crimes law, passed in 1994, includes crimes against people for race, color, religion and national origin, but left out sexual orientation because of a technical mistake.

I wasn’t even aware that Alabama had its own “hate crimes” laws.  I’ll state up front that I fundamentally disagree with laws that punish people for thoughts.  At least federal hate crimes serve an ostensibly more virtuous purpose as they enable federal prosecution in cases that would otherwise be purely within the state’s jurisdiction.  I suppose the thought is that some locales might be reluctant to prosecute crimes committed against certain minority groups and that the federal government should be able to sweep in and right the situation.

The Alabama law, however, doesn’t serve such a purpose.  It merely lumps on additional punishment because of your thoughts or beliefs.  That is asinine.  If someone burns down my house for fun they should be eligible for the exact same punishment as someone who might burn down someone else’s house who might belong to a state sanctioned protected group.  In either case the criminal is prosecuted for the actual crime, but due to “hate crimes” laws the “hateful” person gets punished further because the state didn’t approve of their thoughts.

Here is Alabama’s hate crime law as it is currently written:

Section 13A-5-13

Crimes motivated by victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity or physical or mental disability.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(1) It is the right of every person, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability, to be secure and protected from threats of reasonable fear, intimidation, harassment, and physical harm caused by activities of groups and individuals.

(2) It is not the intent, by enactment of this section, to interfere with the exercise of rights protected by the Constitution of the State of Alabama or the United States.

(3) The intentional advocacy of unlawful acts by groups or individuals against other persons or groups and bodily injury or death to persons is not constitutionally protected when violence or civil disorder is imminent, and poses a threat to public order and safety, and such conduct should be subjected to criminal sanctions.

(b) The purpose of this section is to impose additional penalties where it is shown that a perpetrator committing the underlying offense was motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability.

(c) A person who has been found guilty of a crime, the commission of which was shown beyond a reasonable doubt to have been motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability, shall be punished as follows:

(1) Felonies:

a. On conviction of a Class A felony that was found to have been motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability, the sentence shall not be less than 15 years.

b. On conviction of a Class B felony that was found to have been motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability, the sentence shall not be less than 10 years.

c. On conviction of a Class C felony that was found to have been motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability, the sentence shall not be less than two years.

d. For purposes of this subdivision, a criminal defendant who has been previously convicted of any felony and receives an enhanced sentence pursuant to this section is also subject to enhanced punishment under the Alabama Habitual Felony Offender Act, Section 13A-5-9.

(2) Misdemeanors:

On conviction of a misdemeanor which was found beyond a reasonable doubt to have been motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability, the defendant shall be sentenced for a Class A misdemeanor, except that the defendant shall be sentenced to a minimum of three months.

If I read that correctly any misdemeanor, regardless of how trivial it may be, that was deemed to be committed based on “the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability” will guarantee the offender no less than three months behind bars.

Holmes’ proposed modifications would add “sexual orientation” to the list of protected characteristics, with “sexual orientation” defined as “heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.”  I’m only half surprised they didn’t include transgenders.

The bottom line is that in Alabama you should be punished for committing a crime against anyone.  Period.  Additional punishment for your state of mind is unnecessary and, quite frankly, unfair to victims whose assailants receive less punishment because their assailants didn’t single them out for some state approved reason.  The legislature should not waste time with this particular bill and should instead take efforts to repeal Alabama’s existing hate crimes law.  Alternatively, they could just go ahead and make everyone a protected group and therefore amplify the punishment for all criminals.

Man robs bookstore.  Man runs away.  Police catch man.  No doubt about guilt.  Man left ID at scene of crime.

From AL.com:

A former senior civilian manager with the U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Birmingham Monday to conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and tax evasion charges stemming from an investigation of contract fraud.

Mike Cantrell had been arrested in November 2007. He is the former director of the Joint Center for Technology Integration and its successor, the Integrated Capabilities Management Directorate, from 2000 until April 2007.

…

At the plea hearing Monday, Cantrell admitted receiving about $1.6 million in bribes over a six-year period in exchange for giving preferential treatment to certain contractors, according to Martin’s office.

So far, the government has not named any contractors that might be implicated in the investigation.

That is when the fun will begin, ladies and gentlemen.

Related:

• Fraud alleged at SMDC in Huntsville

From AL.com:

An Irvington man has confessed to killing his four children by throwing them off the Dauphin Island Bridge into the waters below, authorities said Tuesday.

Lam Luong, 37, was arrested on four counts of murder and was being transferred to Mobile County Metro Jail late Tuesday evening, police said.

Bayou La Batre police said Luong confessed to killing 4-month-old Danny Luong, 1-year-old Lindsey Luong, 2-year-old Hannah Luong, and 3-year-old Ryan Phan on Monday morning.

Not that it matters, but Luong claims he did it to get back at his wife after an argument.

I’m officially offering up my services as this man’s executioner - free of charge.  All I need is a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.