The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has directed a judge to redo the sentencing order for a man sentenced to die for killing his ex-girlfriend in 2011.
Appellate judges on Friday ruled that Cedric Jerome Floyd should get a new sentencing order. The court ruled that the judge who sentenced Floyd to the death penalty failed to adequately explain the finding, as required by law, that the crime was particularly heinous and warranted a death sentence.
Floyd was convicted of killing Tina Jones in 2011. The jury in the case recommended a death sentence by an 11-1 vote.
The appellate court upheld the conviction. The decision did not remove the prospect of a death sentence, but said the judge needed to better explain the decision.