A Jefferson County judge Thursday morning ruled that Alabama's capital murder sentencing scheme, which allows judges to override jury recommendations of life without parole and instead impose the death penalty, is unconstitutional.

In making her ruling after a hearing, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd barred the death penalty in the cases of four men charged in three murders.

"The Alabama capital sentencing scheme fails to provide special procedural safeguards to minimize the obvious influence of partisan politics or the potential for unlawful bias in the judiciary," Todd said in reading her written ruling from the bench. "As a result, the death penalty in Alabama is being imposed in a "wholly arbitrary and capricious" manner."

The result of Todd's order is that the judge won't allow the death penalty to be imposed in the cases before her. But attorneys present at the hearing said it would be up to other judges whether to follow her example. Todd's order in PDF

But Todd said her ruling likely will be appealed by prosecutors. If an appellate court were to uphold her ruling, then it would become a precedent and apply to cases around the state, attorneys said.

"Judge Todd's ruling today is not a general pronouncement for the State of Alabama, but is strictly limited to the four cases upon which she ruled in the Jefferson County Circuit Court," Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said Thursday afternoon. "Alabama's capital sentencing statutes are constitutional. Just yesterday the Alabama Supreme Court denied the appeal of a capital murder defendant who had filed a similar pre-trial motion, and the Court refused to declare Alabama's capital statute's unconstitutional. We are currently reviewing the Judge's written order, and expect to file an appeal. We fully expect today's ruling by Judge Todd to be reversed."

Todd had heard arguments from lawyers for capital murder defendants Benjamin Acton, Terrell McMullin, Stanley Chatman, and Kenneth Billups. The judge barred the death penalty in their cases.

"This is huge," Emory Anthony, attorney for Chatman, said of Todd's ruling. "I would hope that the other courts will go along with her decision."

Anthony and the other defense attorneys argued that Alabama's death sentencing scheme is the same as Florida's, which the U.S. Supreme Court's had ruled unconstitutional in January. A jury, not a judge, should make the ultimate decision on whether a defendant should be sentenced to death, they argued.

Alabama Assistant Attorney General Clayton Crenshaw, who heads Alabama's Capital Litigation Division, attended the hearing but Todd did not allow him to argue after defense attorneys said Crenshaw had not given prior notice that he wanted to be involved in the hearing.

Deputy Jefferson County district attorneys argued that Alabama's sentencing scheme is not the same and that the U.S. Supreme Court, which was aware that Alabama's sentencing scheme was similar, did not strike down the Alabama law. Instead, the prosecutors argued, the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld Alabama's law in 1995.

Also, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Florida case was not about judicial override but that Florida juries should decide aggravating factors that make a case death penalty eligible, prosecutors argued. Under Alabama law juries decide an aggravating factor - such as robbery, kidnapping or multiple killings - when they find a person guilty, prosecutors argued.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the "Hurst" decision, Defendants around Alabama charged with capital murder have filed "Hurst" motions seeking to bar the death penalty in their cases. But until Todd's ruling, no judge had granted a motion.

Todd ruled that Alabama's the capital murder scheme is unconstitutional under 6th Amendment and barred from being imposed in the cases.

The death penalty in Alabama "is being imposed in a wholly and unconstitutional manner," Todd said.

Todd also said that Alabama leads the nation in which judges override juries recommendations for life with out parole in capital cases and instead impose the death penalty. "Alabama has become a clear outlier," she said.

"Jefferson County leads the state in total death sentences resulting from judicial overrides, with 17, according to the (Equal Justice Initiative) study, which looked at the sentencing since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976 after a four-year nationwide ban."

In the ruling Todd also: