The process described in Sections 13A-5-46(e)(2), 13A-5- 46(e)(3) and Section 13A-5-47(e) of weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances to determine the sentence shall not be defined to mean a mere tallying of aggravating and mitigating circumstances for the purpose of numerical comparison. Instead, it shall be defined to mean a process by which circumstances relevant to sentence are marshalled and considered in an organized fashion for the purpose of determining whether the proper sentence in view of all the relevant circumstances in an individual case is life imprisonment without parole or death.
Ala. Code § 13A-5-48
Process of Weighing Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances Defined.
Known as the Alabama Criminal Code
The act spans §§ 13A-10-1 to 13A-9-92 (653 sections).
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Harris v. Alabama (1995)
Most recently applied in Demetrius Avery Jackson, Jr. v. State of Alabama. (December 2010)
(Acts 1981, No. 81-178, p. 203, §10.)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Alabama Legislature (ALISON). Reproduced from public-domain Alabama statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.