NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee judge has resentenced a death row inmate to life in prison for the second time in two years after finding that his trial was marred by racism during jury selection.
The trial court judge on Tuesday resentenced Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman to three consecutive life sentences. If the resentencing is not challenged, he will spend the rest of his life in prison but without the threat of execution.
The judge first resentenced Abdur'Rahman, who is Black, in 2019 after questions of racial bias in jury selection arose.
That resentencing order was thrown out when an appeals court found the judge did not follow the proper procedure, setting the stage for Tuesday's do-over.
Abdur’Rahman was originally sentenced to die for the 1986 murder of Patrick Daniels. Nashville Police said Daniels and Norma Jean Norman were bound with duct tape and stabbed repeatedly with a butcher knife at Norman’s home.
