These 5 counties pack Alabama’s Death Row despite death penalty declining

An Alabama Reflector analysis of executions in the state over the past decade shows five of the state’s 67 counties account for almost half of the total number of death sentences imposed since 2012. The five counties have a population of about 1.7 million people, comprising roughly a third of the state’s total population.

Mobile County had the highest number of death sentences imposed with nine, followed by Madison County with four. Morgan, Jefferson, St. Clair and Calhoun counties each sentenced three people to death.

Russell, Marshall, Escambia and Colbert each had two people who were sentenced to death during that time. Another 13 counties all have one individual sentenced to death.

According to the Reflector’s analysis, Ashley Rich, Mobile County’s district attorney from 2010 to 2023, oversaw eight death sentences.

“There is a lot of different variables that we look at,” Rich said in an interview. “We do not take it lightly at all. If you are asking a jury to hand down a sentence of death, then it is reserved and held for the worst of the worst.”

Robert Broussard, Madison County’s DA, has overseen four. Combined, Rich and Broussard account for a quarter of the death sentences in the state since 2012.

“For the most part, it is up to the individual district attorney whether or not you are seeking the death penalty,” Broussard said in an interview. “Of course I am the boss, I am the one who gets the final say on it, but I am saying is, when a case of a certain magnitude comes up, there is very much a discussion on the case as to whether we believe, ultimately I believe, the death penalty is warranted.”

Read more at AL.com