…… Man set to be free in few days
A judge in Alabama has ordered a change in sentence for a man sentenced to life imprisonment for stealing $50 from a bakery 36 years ago.
Alvin Kennard was 22 years old when he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole back in 1984. Alabama state law at the time mandated that since it was his fourth offense, the judge had no other option than to sentence him to life in prison.
That law, the Habitual Felony Offender Act, has since been changed so that judges now have the option of giving fourth-time offenders the possibility of parole. But when that change took place in the early 2000s it wasn’t made retroactive, so it didn’t automatically prompt a re-sentencing in Kennard’s case.
Assistant District Attorney Bill North said that Kennard’s behavior in prison played a role in the judge’s decision when, on Wednesday, the judge decided to change Kennard’s sentence to time served, effectively prompting his release in the coming days.
Kennard’s case is still being processed so he remains in the custody of the state’s correctional department, but Crowder said he should be released “within a few days.”
