NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The fate of a black death row inmate in Tennessee is up in the air.
Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman was scheduled to be executed in April, but last fall a judge resentenced him, sparing him the death penalty, based on claims that prosecutors had illegally excluded African Americans from the jury pool.
The state attorney general appealed the resentencing, and the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals heard arguments Tuesday.
Attorneys for the state argue the Nashville trial court judge didn't have the authority to modify Abdur’Rahman’s sentence based merely on an agreement with District Attorney Glenn Funk.
Attorneys for Abdur'Rahman argue the attorney general doesn't have the authority to challenge the district attorney's agreement.
Abdur’Rahman was sentenced to die for the 1986 murder of Patrick Daniels. Police said Daniels and Norma Jean Norman were bound with duct tape and stabbed repeatedly with a butcher knife at Norman’s home.
