So apparently, Alabama has this super cool judicial override rule. If a jury decides that you should spend life in prison instead of being put to death, a judge can say, "no, you know what, the jury got it wrong, I say you die." And then you go to jail and you get put to death.
I believe Florida and Delaware judges can also override the jury's verdict, but it seems they are not that quick to impose death over life as their colleagues in Alabama.
Obviously elected judges (like in Alabama) are more inclined to pull this in order to appeal to their voters ("look how tough on crime I am"), while in Delaware (where judges are appointed) they issue more "life in prison over death" overrides than the other way around.
