Huntsville man’s death sentence overturned Updated Dec 16, 2020; Posted Dec 16, 2020 Lionel Francis is shown at the Madison County Courthouse in Huntsville, Ala. on May, 28, 2019 during the penalty phase of his capital murder trial. Facebook Share The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals today overturned a death sentence for a Huntsville man convicted of killing his toddler daughter. In a unanimous decision, the appellate court upheld Lionel Francis’ capital murder conviction but ruled that he be resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the only other sentence available in a capital case under Alabama law. In a 33-page decision the five appellate judges unanimously ruled that prosecutors failed to prove an “aggravating circumstance,” which would make Francis eligible for the death penalty. In Alabama, prosecutors must prove at least one aggravating circumstance for someone to be sentenced to death. In Francis’ case, prosecutors argued that the aggravating circumstance was a prior felony conviction.