Alabama
Lawmakers approve ban on devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday approved a ban on Glock switches and other conversion devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, after a deadly year that included multiple mass shootings.
A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September. The devices are already banned under federal law, but there’s currently no state law that bans them.
The Alabama Senate voted 24-2 to accept the House of Representatives changes to the bill. The measure now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it after calling for its passage in her State of the State address.
Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot of Pike Road sponsored the bill that was approved this year. Possessing or selling the devices would be a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The measure will take effect immediately if it is signed into law.
The devices are banned under federal law and in 23 states, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Supporters said a state ban will allow local law enforcement to prosecute people for the possession of the devices. Police say the devices produce a rapid, hard-to-control spray of bullets that increase the number of casualties during a shooting.
The bill passed without significant opposition, a rare consensus on gun legislation in the deeply red state. Alabama lawmakers in 2022 voted to end the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.
Alabama
State Senate advances bill to allow a fraction of nonviolent offenders resentencing
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A Republican-led bill that would allow resentencing hearings for people serving life in prison for nonviolent offenses narrowly advanced in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday in a rare demonstration of bipartisanship as nationally both Democrats and Republicans push for tough-on-crime policies.
The legislation, dubbed the “Second Chance Act,” passed 17-8 in the Republican-dominated chamber. It was endorsed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who called it a “common sense reform.” Similar legislation has been introduced in previous years but failed to advance.
Republican Bill Barfoot, the measure’s sponsor, estimates it would affect just 200 of the approximately 20,000 people in Alabama state prisons who were sentenced decades ago under a 1977 habitual offender law that has since been revised.
The bill only applies to those charged before 2000, when a law was passed to give judges more discretion in sentencing. In other words, the change would only affect those who have already served over 25 years in prison for an offense in which no one was physically injured. Barfoot said people sentenced before the reforms might have received a shorter sentence if they were charged with the same crime today.
Opponents of the bill argued Tuesday that it would be a burden on the courts and give people who were formerly incarcerated the opportunity to reoffend.
Barfoot emphasized that the bill is “not a get out of jail free card.” District attorneys and any victims affected by the initial crime would be able to testify against resentencing during the trial.
New Mexico
Teens charged with murder in the hit-and-run of a bicyclist posted on social media
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Police have charged a 13-year-old with murder, taken an 11-year-old into custody and are continuing to search for a 15-year-old in the apparently deliberate hit-and-run of a bicyclist in Albuquerque that was recorded on video inside a stolen car last year.
The detained 13-year-old boy is believed to be the driver of the car involved in the May 2024 hit-and-run that killed 63-year-old physicist Scott Dwight Habermehl while he was biking to his job at Sandia National Laboratories. The other boys are believed to have been passengers.
Video of the crash was recorded from inside the car and circulated on social media. It was reported to authorities by people including a middle school principal after a student flagged it.
A portion of the video, ending just before impact, was released by police Tuesday. It shows the car accelerating as the flashing tail light of a bicycle becomes visible. A voice believed to be the 15-year-old’s says, “Just bump him, brah.”
According to police, the driver asks, “Like bump him?”
A passenger says, “Yeah, just bump him. Go like … 15 … 20.”
The car veers into a marked, dedicated bike lane. Loud sounds can then be heard in the full recording, including “metal flexing,” according to law enforcement.
The 13-year-old and 15-year-old have been charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person, police said in a statement.
The 11-year-old will be put in the custody of the state’s Children, Youth & Families Department and evaluated. A little over a week after the fatal crash, police had arrested him on an unrelated felony warrant, according to law enforcement.
Detectives are working with prosecutors and state social workers to determine what charges can be brought against an 11-year-old and whether he might be detained. For youths 13 or under, juvenile courts adjudicate charges with a maximum sentence to juvenile detention ending at age 21. Children ages 11 and younger can’t be held at a juvenile detention center.
The Associated Press doesn’t typically name people under 18 accused of a crime. Michael Rosenfield, a publicly appointed attorney for the 13-year-old defendant, declined to comment on the case ahead of an initial meeting with the boy.
Under New Mexico law, teenagers ages 15 to 18 — and 14 in some instances after evaluation — can be tried in adult court only for first-degree murder after a grand jury indictment. Authorities can pursue adult sentencing in juvenile court for several serious crimes, said Dennica Torres, district defender for Law Offices of the Public Defender.
A similar case involving teenage boys who allegedly recorded themselves deliberately hitting a bicyclist who ended up dying happened in Las Vegas in 2023.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that she was horrified by video of the collision — and “appalled” by inaction by legislators on juvenile justice reform proposals.
Lawmakers approve ban on devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday approved a ban on Glock switches and other conversion devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, after a deadly year that included multiple mass shootings.
A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September. The devices are already banned under federal law, but there’s currently no state law that bans them.
The Alabama Senate voted 24-2 to accept the House of Representatives changes to the bill. The measure now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it after calling for its passage in her State of the State address.
Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot of Pike Road sponsored the bill that was approved this year. Possessing or selling the devices would be a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The measure will take effect immediately if it is signed into law.
The devices are banned under federal law and in 23 states, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Supporters said a state ban will allow local law enforcement to prosecute people for the possession of the devices. Police say the devices produce a rapid, hard-to-control spray of bullets that increase the number of casualties during a shooting.
The bill passed without significant opposition, a rare consensus on gun legislation in the deeply red state. Alabama lawmakers in 2022 voted to end the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.
Alabama
State Senate advances bill to allow a fraction of nonviolent offenders resentencing
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A Republican-led bill that would allow resentencing hearings for people serving life in prison for nonviolent offenses narrowly advanced in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday in a rare demonstration of bipartisanship as nationally both Democrats and Republicans push for tough-on-crime policies.
The legislation, dubbed the “Second Chance Act,” passed 17-8 in the Republican-dominated chamber. It was endorsed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who called it a “common sense reform.” Similar legislation has been introduced in previous years but failed to advance.
Republican Bill Barfoot, the measure’s sponsor, estimates it would affect just 200 of the approximately 20,000 people in Alabama state prisons who were sentenced decades ago under a 1977 habitual offender law that has since been revised.
The bill only applies to those charged before 2000, when a law was passed to give judges more discretion in sentencing. In other words, the change would only affect those who have already served over 25 years in prison for an offense in which no one was physically injured. Barfoot said people sentenced before the reforms might have received a shorter sentence if they were charged with the same crime today.
Opponents of the bill argued Tuesday that it would be a burden on the courts and give people who were formerly incarcerated the opportunity to reoffend.
Barfoot emphasized that the bill is “not a get out of jail free card.” District attorneys and any victims affected by the initial crime would be able to testify against resentencing during the trial.
New Mexico
Teens charged with murder in the hit-and-run of a bicyclist posted on social media
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Police have charged a 13-year-old with murder, taken an 11-year-old into custody and are continuing to search for a 15-year-old in the apparently deliberate hit-and-run of a bicyclist in Albuquerque that was recorded on video inside a stolen car last year.
The detained 13-year-old boy is believed to be the driver of the car involved in the May 2024 hit-and-run that killed 63-year-old physicist Scott Dwight Habermehl while he was biking to his job at Sandia National Laboratories. The other boys are believed to have been passengers.
Video of the crash was recorded from inside the car and circulated on social media. It was reported to authorities by people including a middle school principal after a student flagged it.
A portion of the video, ending just before impact, was released by police Tuesday. It shows the car accelerating as the flashing tail light of a bicycle becomes visible. A voice believed to be the 15-year-old’s says, “Just bump him, brah.”
According to police, the driver asks, “Like bump him?”
A passenger says, “Yeah, just bump him. Go like … 15 … 20.”
The car veers into a marked, dedicated bike lane. Loud sounds can then be heard in the full recording, including “metal flexing,” according to law enforcement.
The 13-year-old and 15-year-old have been charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person, police said in a statement.
The 11-year-old will be put in the custody of the state’s Children, Youth & Families Department and evaluated. A little over a week after the fatal crash, police had arrested him on an unrelated felony warrant, according to law enforcement.
Detectives are working with prosecutors and state social workers to determine what charges can be brought against an 11-year-old and whether he might be detained. For youths 13 or under, juvenile courts adjudicate charges with a maximum sentence to juvenile detention ending at age 21. Children ages 11 and younger can’t be held at a juvenile detention center.
The Associated Press doesn’t typically name people under 18 accused of a crime. Michael Rosenfield, a publicly appointed attorney for the 13-year-old defendant, declined to comment on the case ahead of an initial meeting with the boy.
Under New Mexico law, teenagers ages 15 to 18 — and 14 in some instances after evaluation — can be tried in adult court only for first-degree murder after a grand jury indictment. Authorities can pursue adult sentencing in juvenile court for several serious crimes, said Dennica Torres, district defender for Law Offices of the Public Defender.
A similar case involving teenage boys who allegedly recorded themselves deliberately hitting a bicyclist who ended up dying happened in Las Vegas in 2023.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that she was horrified by video of the collision — and “appalled” by inaction by legislators on juvenile justice reform proposals.
