The Brief
This brief offers a summary but critical look at the case of Mr. David Lee Roberts, highlighting key facts about his trial, mental health history, and the ongoing clemency efforts. However, it is just a starting point. The full story is far more complex and deeply troubling. Throughout this website, you’ll find additional documents, expert analysis, legal filings, and personal accounts that provide a fuller picture of why this case urgently demands a second look—and why clemency is not only justified but necessary.
As you navigate this site you’ll find that the circumstances surrounding Mr. Roberts’ crime, trial, and sentencing are anything but straightforward and just. To better understand why David’s case is a miscarriage of justice deserving of grace, it is necessary to understand a bit about who David Lee Roberts is and how he got here. For this reason, we invite you to explore beyond this summary and engage with the evidence for yourself.
David Lee Roberts: Background
David Lee Roberts has a well-documented history of inherited, severe mental illness, including hallucinations and delusions, which have persisted throughout his life. These symptoms are not merely intermittent or situational—they are indicative of deep-rooted, hereditary psychiatric conditions that should have been carefully considered during his trial and sentencing – and absolutely warrant consideration now when the State of Alabama is seeking to execute him.
The Crime and Trial (1992)
Mr. Roberts was convicted for the capital murder of Annetra Jones.
Before trial, the District Attorney offered a plea deal: life without the possibility of parole. However, David did not learn of this offer until the day his trial was set to begin. Unfortunately, David declined the offer—under the influence of his delusional thinking and due to the failures of counsel.
The jury, after hearing the evidence, recommended a life without parole sentence.
Despite this, the trial judge overrode the jury’s decision and sentenced him to death—a practice that was later abolished in Alabama due to concerns over fairness and abuse.
Judicial Override and the Sixth Amendment
David Lee’s case is a textbook example of judicial override undermining the jury’s role. This practice has been widely criticized as:
Violating the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees a defendant the right to a trial by jury.
Allowing judges, often elected officials, to impose death sentences for political gain.
Current Status (as of June 2025)
The Alabama Supreme Court approved Mr. Roberts’ execution warrant. His legal team and family are appealing to Governor Kay Ivey for clemency, citing his mental illness, the flawed trial process, and the jury’s original sentencing recommendation.
Mental Illness: Executing someone who is severely mentally ill violates basic principles of decency and constitutional protections.
Jury Override: The jury’s will—life without parole—was ignored, undermining the integrity of the justice system.
Changed Standards: Alabama has since abolished judicial override, recognizing its injustice. Applying it retroactively in Roberts’ case is inconsistent with today’s legal and ethical norms.
Possibility for Rehabilitation: Given his mental health condition, David Lee Roberts is not the kind of “worst of the worst” offender the death penalty was intended for.
Clemency for
David Lee Roberts
David Lee Roberts was born in 1966 in Amory, Mississippi to Danny and Brenda Roberts. David’s parents raised him in Hamilton, Alabama, their hometown. While the Roberts family never had much money, they worked hard to provide for David and his three, younger siblings. And, though the family lacked material things, they felt richly blessed by their abiding faith in God. David spent much of his early life worshiping as a congregant in his grandfather’s Freewill Baptist Church. Among her children, Brenda recalls that David took these religious teachings most to heart.
In his late teens, David became a local hero by rescuing two runaway children who had gotten lost near a snake-infested marsh. When David was around 18, two 13-year-old girls ran away from home. Their parents contacted police, who set up a search party. While helping with the search, David, an avid woodsman, crossed a 400–500-yard marsh to rescue the girls and carry them to safety.
As he had served his community, David also wanted to serve his country. So, in May 1984, David graduated from Hamilton High School with a plan to join the military.
Early Life
Family History of Inherited Mental Illness
David Lee Roberts is the product of generations of inherited mental illness. Despite the relative stability of his childhood, as he got older, it became clear that David labored under a severe and significant disability – hereditable mental illness from both his maternal and paternal ancestors. And there were troubling signs during David’s late adolescence that he too was developing mental illness. As his family saw, during high school, David occasionally went days without sleep, he experienced wild mood swings, and he was increasingly paranoid.
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Hallucinations & Death by Suicide
David’s paternal great-grandfather chose to die by suicide to quiet the voices that only he heard.
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Shock Treatments
David’s maternal grandmother had depressive disorder and maternal great-grandfather received shock treatments for anxiety and depression.
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Clinical Depression
David’s paternal grandmother suffered from depression.
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Substance Use Disorder
David’s sister struggles with severe mental illness and substance use disorder.
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Suicidal Ideation
David’s paternal aunt had anxiety and depression. After a breakdown during which she threatened suicide, she was briefly institutionalized for mental health treatment.
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Schizophrenia, Suicide, and Antipsychotic Medications
David’s first cousin takes antipsychotic medication for bipolar disorder. Another paternal cousin was discharged from the Army and hospitalized for severe mental illness. His maternal cousin, who was a local police officer, died by suicide, and another paternal cousin is living with schizophrenia today.
MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTED TO A TRAGIC LOSS OF JUDGEMENT
In a span of eight years, David Lee Roberts’ mental illness led him from the path of hometown hero and promising military service to a spiral of suicide attempts, self-medication with illicit & illegal hallucinogenic drugs, isolation, and ultimately a life robbed of purpose and ruled by fear and paranoia. When accused arsonist and locally infamous criminal Windal Satterfield cornered David, threatening his family’s safety unless he carry out an unthinkable act on his behalf – the murder of Ms. Annetra Jones – David was no longer an individual capable of reason and sound thinking. Instead he was a ticking time bomb driven by irrational fear and accused arsonist Satterfield was more than happy to light the fuse, setting in motion a series of horrific events that ended in the murder of Ms. Jones and David Lee Roberts alone sentenced to death for the crime.
