R.I.P. Eddie Duval Powell

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On June 16, 2011, Alabama executed Eddie Duval Powell, who was convicted for the 1995 murder of 70-year old Mattie Wesson.  In  2002, United States Supreme Court, in the case of Atkins v. Virginia, barred the execution of people who are mentally retarded as unconstitutional.  According to the Equal Justice Institute, Powell "may be the first person executed in Alabama since Atkins where there is credible evidence of mental retardation but the death row prisoner nonetheless was denied an evidentiary hearing in any court."

This is the 22nd execution in the United States in 2011, and the fourth execution in Alabama.  Powell is the eleventh African American executed this year.