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An Alabama man who has spent the last 36 years behind bars for stealing $ 50 and changed from a bakery when he was 22 will soon be released from jail.
Alvin Kennard was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1984, ABC News reported. At the time, the law in force in the state required to sentence someone to life if it was the fourth offense. This law, the usual law on criminal offenders, has since been amended. Offenders convicted for the fourth time can now benefit from a conditional release.
However, as this change was not made retroactively, Kennard was not sentenced again. But recently, a judge decided to consider what he considered to be a severe sentence for this crime of Jean Valjean-esq.
Kennard, now 58, was sentenced to release after being sentenced again on Wednesday, August 28, USA Today reports.
"The judge in this case noticed how strange it seemed that someone was serving a $ 50 life sentence with no possibility of parole," Kennard's lawyer, Carla Crowder, told ABC. News.
Cut-off circuit in Bessemer circuit in Jefferson County: The curiosity of Judge David Carpenter has triggered the publication of Kennard, which is expected to be released in the coming days.
"I just raised my hand and said," My goodness, thank you, thank you, "Kennard's niece Patricia Jones told WBRC after the judge made the decision to release her uncle.
Kennard's three previous offenses before the bakery's robbery, where he had brandished a pocketknife to steal $ 50.75 at Highlands Bakery in Bessemer, were all non-violent property crimes.
Kennard took the time to apologize for his past court appearance, WIAT in Birmingham, Alabama, before he was sentenced again to serving his sentence on Wednesday.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry for what I did," he told the court. "I take responsibility for what I have done in the past. I want to have the opportunity to do things right. "
He indicated that he was considering living with his family in Bessemer and working in carpentry.
"As incredible as this opportunity is for Mr. Kennard and as happy as we are for him, we know that there are hundreds of people in the state incarcerated in similar situations who have no lawyer, who have no voice, "Crowder told ABC News. "While this state is grappling with the involvement of the Ministry of Justice and unconstitutional prisons, I hope that our legislators, our courts and our governor will do more to address these injustices."
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