High Court Mulls Death Penalty for Killer Who Forgot Crime

High Court Mulls Death Penalty for Killer Who Forgot Crime
Vernon Madison, one of Alabama's longest-serving death row inmates, is pictured in this handout photo. Courtesy Alabama Department of Corrections/Handout via Reuters
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WASHINGTON—U.S. Supreme Court justices, delving into the issue of aging prisoners with dementia, struggled on Oct. 2 over whether a convicted Alabama murderer should be spared the death penalty because strokes have erased his memory of committing the crime.

Vernon Madison, 68, was convicted and sentenced to death for fatally shooting a Mobile police officer in 1985.