Two days before South Carolina is scheduled to execute a death row inmate, a key witness for the prosecution came forward to argue that the defendant lied at trial and that the state is trying to execute an innocent man.
Khalil Devine Black Sun Allah, 46, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Friday. His lawyers had filed an emergency motion to stay the execution, citing new testimony that argued Allah was wrongfully convicted, but the state Supreme Court denied the motion late Thursday and said the execution should go ahead.
Allah, formerly known as Freddie Owens, was convicted of armed robbery and the murder of convenience store cashier Eileen Graves in November 1997. He was 19 at the time. Allah has always maintained his innocence in the murder of the 41-year-old Graves. Mother of three childrenHe was shot in the head during a robbery.
There was no forensic evidence linking Alar to the shooting. The state's evidence against Alar was the testimony of his friend and co-defendant, Steven Golden, who was also charged with robbery and murder. Golden and Alar were scheduled to stand trial on a joint murder charge, but because the case began in 1999, Golden agreed to plead guilty to murder, armed robbery and conspiracy charges and to testify against Alar.
The store's security camera captured two masked men with guns, but their identities were not confirmed on the footage. Golden, who was 18 at the time of the robbery, said in court that the men seen on the footage were him and Alaa, and that it was Alaa who shot Graves.
But on Wednesday, two days before his scheduled execution, Golden submitted a shocking affidavit, saying Allah “was not the person who shot Eileen Graves” and “was not present at the scene of the robbery.” Golden said he had concealed the identity of the “real killer” out of fear that “his associates might kill me,” and that he was now coming forward in order to have a “clean conscience.”
“i don't want [Allah] “I don't want to be sentenced to death for something I didn't do,” he wrote in the new affidavit.
When Golden was questioned by police a few days after the robbery, he said he was high and claimed detectives knew Allah was with him. [Allah]He had already told everyone his side of the story, and everyone was just trying to get my side of the story. I was scared that if I didn't give a statement, I would be executed.”
He claimed that prosecutors later promised him that he would not face the death penalty or life in prison if he testified against Allah, to which he agreed.
In a motion filed with the court late on Wednesday, Allah's lawyers said: “If this court does not grant a stay of execution; [Allah] He will die for a crime he did not commit.”
In a response filed Thursday, the DA's office called Golden's testimony unreliable, saying he “gave sworn statements that contradict other testimony he has given on numerous occasions over more than two decades.” State lawyers also noted that people who were around Alar at the time testified that he confessed to being the shooter. Alar's lawyers have denied the claim that he previously confessed and suggested the testimony was unreliable.
The state Supreme Court sided with the attorney general, ruling that the new evidence did not amount to “exceptional circumstances” justifying a stay of execution.
The judges said Golden's new statements were “completely inconsistent” with his previous repeated testimony and that “there is no indication that Mr. Golden was asked to sign his latest affidavit.” The judges also argued that other evidence pointed to Allah's guilt.
Allah's execution will be the first in South Carolina in 13 years and could be the start of a rapid series of executions in the state in the coming months. The state Supreme Court recently announced five additional executions to be scheduled at least 35 days apart after Allah's killing.
South Carolina informally suspended executions in 2011 after pharmaceutical companies stopped supplying lethal injection drugs due to fears of public pressure, but the state passed a law last year concealing the identities of suppliers and resumed supplies.
Golden's new statement came in the weeks following a series of objections by Alar's lawyers to his execution, pointing out that Alar was convicted of murder without a clear jury finding that he pulled the trigger. Prosecutors told jurors at trial that they could convict a defendant of murder simply by believing he was present at the robbery, and the defense argued that the death penalty should not be available to a defendant convicted as an “accomplice.”
The lawyers also pointed out that their client had endured severe violence and trauma throughout his life and had been diagnosed with a brain injury.
If executed, Allar would be one of the youngest people executed in South Carolina in decades.
Allah's lawyers have also filed a clemency petition with the governor's office to halt the execution.
The Rev. Hillary Taylor, executive director of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Thursday that if the execution goes ahead it would be a “great miscarriage of justice.” “Khalil should not have to die for the wrongdoing of others. That's not accountability. That's not justice.”
