The death sentence of a man convicted of killing three Birmingham police officers more than a decade ago was upheld by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday.
The judges rejected the appeal of death row inmate Nathaniel Woods, who claimed his lawyer wasn't effective during his trial in the fatal shootings of officers Carlos Owen, Harley Chisholm and Charles Bennett, according to The Associated Press.
The three police officers were serving a warrant at a one-story row house near 18th Street and Avenue P, in the Ensley area of the city around 1:30 p.m. on June 17, 2004 when the incident occurred.
Owen and Chisholm entered the apartment through the back door to arrest the man on a misdemeanor assault charge when he broke away from them and ran toward the front of the house where Bennett was about to come through the front door.
One of the suspects then opened fire with an automatic SKS rifle, killing all three officers and wounding a fourth officer.
The Woods, the gunman, and several other suspects were taken into custody near the scene by a SWAT team a short time later.
On January 19, 2005, Woods was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder and later that year was given three death sentences.
