## Facts

- Paul Edward Murry shot and killed Mary Pearl McCord in Montgomery, Alabama.
- McCord was a City of Montgomery police officer who was on duty at the time of the shooting and was attempting to arrest Murry.
- Murry claimed he did not know that McCord and her partner were police officers and believed he was being robbed.
- Alabama law provided that intentional murder could be treated as capital murder when the victim was an on-duty law-enforcement officer acting in an official capacity.
- At trial, Murry requested a jury instruction requiring the State to prove that he knew McCord was a police officer on duty before the homicide could be treated as capital murder.
- The trial judge refused to give that instruction and charged the jury without a knowledge requirement tied to the victim’s police-officer status.
- The jury convicted Murry of capital murder.
- In the penalty phase, the jury recommended life imprisonment without parole by an 11–1 vote.
- After a separate sentencing hearing, the trial judge imposed the death penalty despite the jury’s recommendation.
- The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence, and the Alabama Supreme Court granted certiorari review.

## Issues

1. Does the capital offense of intentional murder of an on-duty police officer require the State to prove the defendant knew the victim was a police officer performing official duties?
2. May a trial judge impose a death sentence after a jury recommends life imprisonment without parole under Alabama’s capital sentencing statutes?

## Decision

- The court held that, for capital murder based on the victim’s status as an on-duty police officer, the State must prove the defendant knew the victim was a police officer acting in the line of duty.
- The court ruled the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the required knowledge element.
- The court held Alabama’s capital sentencing scheme permits a trial judge to impose death even when the jury recommends life without parole, provided the judge follows the statutory sentencing procedure and considers the jury’s advisory verdict.
- The court reversed the judgment affirming Murry’s conviction and sentence and remanded the case due to the instructional error.

## Legal Principles

- Capital offense statutes are strictly construed, and courts do not treat a homicide as capital based on victim status unless the statutory requirements are met.
- When a capital classification depends on a victim’s official status (such as an on-duty police officer), the prosecution must prove the defendant’s culpability includes awareness of the facts that make the offense capital, here that the victim was a police officer performing official duties.
- A trial court commits reversible error by refusing a requested jury instruction on an element that distinguishes capital murder from non-capital murder, when the evidence raises a factual dispute on that element.
- Under Alabama’s post-1981 capital sentencing framework, the jury’s sentencing recommendation is advisory; the trial judge must independently determine the sentence after a separate hearing, written findings, and weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
- A judicial sentence of death following a jury recommendation of life without parole is statutorily permitted if the trial judge gives the recommendation consideration and satisfies the required sentencing findings and weighing process.

## Conclusion

Ex Parte Murry held that Alabama may treat the murder of an on-duty police officer as capital murder only if the State proves the defendant knew the victim’s status at the time of the killing; because the jury was not instructed on that element, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed and remanded, while also upholding the statutory power of a trial judge to impose death after a jury recommends life without parole if the statutory sentencing procedures are followed.


Ex Parte Murry, 455 So.2d 72 (1984)