NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee inmate is leaving death row, just eight months before his execution date.
A Nashville judge on Friday approved an agreement between prosecutors and attorneys for Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman (ah-BOO'-ah-LEE') (AHB'-dur-RAK'-mahn) that converts his death sentence to life in prison.
The agreement comes after Abdur'Rahman petitioned to reopen his case, presenting evidence that prosecutors at his trial treated black potential jurors differently from white potential jurors.
Abdur'Rahman was sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of Patrick Daniels. The 68-year-old inmate has seen three previous execution dates cancelled thanks to various legal appeals. But over the past year, Tennessee's condemned inmates have had little success in the courts.
Tennessee has executed five people in just over a year with two more executions scheduled in the coming months.
