[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., W.VA., N.C., S.C.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 15



TEXAS:

DNA evidence to be analyzed again in death penalty case appeal


A lawyer for Steven Thomas, who faces the death penalty after being convicted 
of capital murder in Williamson County, says some of the DNA evidence presented 
at the trial was false, according to court documents. A district judge approved 
payments this month for the lawyer to hire a DNA analyst and a fingerprint 
analyst to review the evidence in Thomas' case, court orders showed.

Thomas was convicted Oct. 31, 2014, in the death of 73-year-old Mildred 
McKinney, who was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled at her Williamson 
County home in 1980. He was 56 when he was convicted. He was arrested in 2012 
after DNA he was required to provide for a federal drug charge matched DNA 
found at the crime scene.

A DNA analyst from the Texas Department of Public Safety testified at Thomas' 
trial that his sperm was found on a ribbon wrapped around one of McKinney's 
thumbs. Thomas' fingerprint also was found on a clock at McKinney's home, 
according to another DPS analyst.

Thomas, who worked for a pesticide service that had been to McKinney's house, 
appealed his case in January 2015 to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where 
it is pending.

As part of the appeal, 1 of Thomas' attorneys, Joanne Heisey, filed requests 
with Williamson County's 26th District Court in November requesting money to 
hire a DNA analyst and a latent print examiner. Latent fingerprints - such as 
the one prosecutors said Thomas left on the clock - aren't visible to the eye 
but are left behind by oils or perspiration on a finger.

"Mr. Thomas's trial counsel did not seek expert assistance to independently 
review any of the forensic evidence the State used to convict him," the 
requests said. "A preliminary review of the DNA evidence presented at Mr. 
Thomas' trial indicates that at least some of that evidence was false."

Recent research, the requests said, "has called into question the reliability 
of various forensic methods, including latent fingerprint analysis." The 
research shows that latent fingerprint analysis has a false positive rate that 
could be "as high as 1 error in 18 cases," the requests said.

A lawyer who works with Heisey said their office had no comment about the case. 
Lytza Rojas, a former prosecutor involved in Thomas' trial, didn't return 
requests for comment last week. Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick 
said Thursday he couldn't comment on pending litigation.

State District Judge Donna King on Jan. 3 approved Heisey's requests to hire a 
DNA analyst for $5,500 and a fingerprint analyst for $3,000, according to court 
orders. Under state law, Williamson County will be repaid by the state for the 
expenses, according to the requests filed by Thomas' lawyer.

Another one of Thomas' lawyers, Ariel Payan, said in his appeal to the Court of 
Criminal Appeals in August that the evidence presented at the trial showed 
McKinney was killed by more than one person. No evidence at the trial showed 
Thomas had killed McKinney or helped commit any other crime against her, Payan 
said.

Evidence at the trial showed that a throat swab taken from McKinney's autopsy 
showed male DNA that didn't belong to Thomas and also ruled out other suspects 
in the case, including serial killer Henry Lee Lucas and his partner Ottis 
Toole. The ribbon wrapped around one of McKinney's thumbs not only had DNA on 
it from Thomas but also from an unknown man, according to a DNA analyst who 
testified at the trial.

(source: Austin American-Statesman)

*******************

Last Lake Waco triple murder defendant dies in prison


The Lake Waco triple murders sent shock waves across Central Texas almost 35 
years ago. Terrified parents kept their children close and made Lake Waco 
off-limits for their teenagers.

After all these years, perhaps the final chapter of the controversial saga was 
closed Friday with the death of Anthony Melendez, the last of 4 men implicated 
in the grisly slayings of Jill Montgomery, Raylene Rice and Kenneth Franks, 
whose bodies were found in July 1982 at Koehne Park.

Melendez, 57, died Friday in a prison hospice at the Michael Unit in Tennessee 
Colony, near Palestine. Prison spokesman Jason Clark confirmed Saturday that 
Melendez died but said privacy guidelines preclude the prison from revealing a 
cause of death.

Melendez, who was serving 2 life prison terms, died as some, including the 
ex-wife of former McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell, worked to 
exonerate him, although those efforts stalled in the past few years.

Melendez, who pleaded guilty to 2 counts of murder in the case and testified 
against David Wayne Spence at his trial in Bryan, also petitioned the governor 
for a reprieve, commutation or pardon after he recanted his confession.

Other defendants

Spence, who was tried in Waco and Bryan, was executed in 1997. Melendez's 
brother, Gilbert, who also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 life prison 
terms, died in prison in 1998 of HIV complications. The 4th defendant, Muneer 
Deeb, also was sentenced to death after a trial in Cleburne. But his conviction 
was set aside, and Deeb was acquitted at a 1993 retrial in Fort Worth. He died 
from cancer 6 years after being released.

Prosecutors said Deeb hired Spence to kill a teenager named Gayle Kelley so he 
could collect on a life insurance policy he had on her. She worked for Deeb at 
a convenience store he owned near the Methodist Children's Home.

But Spence botched the job, mistaking Montgomery for Kelley, prosecutors said.

Montgomery, 17, was at Koehne Park at Lake Waco with her friends Rice, 17, and 
Franks, 18. They were killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong 
time, authorities said.

The Melendez brothers helped Spence carry out the murders, as well as rape the 
girls, according to trial testimony. The bodies of the teens, who were stabbed 
a total of 47 times, were dumped at Lake Waco's Speegleville Park.

Former investigator

Truman Simons, who investigated the triple murder initially for the Waco police 
and later as a sheriff's deputy, said Saturday he was not concerned about 
efforts to clear the Lake Waco defendants' names because he knows the right men 
were convicted.

He said Anthony Melendez initially denied his involvement in the murders but 
failed subsequent polygraph tests. After Melendez started cooperating with 
investigators and said he wanted to testify against Spence because he got him 
and his brother caught up in the tragedy, he passed polygraphs, Simons said.

Simons said Anthony Melendez also told him he wanted to testify against Spence 
because he never told his mother he and Gilbert were involved in the killings. 
By testifying, she would know, sparing him the pain of telling her directly, 
Simons said.

"I didn't have any warm, fuzzy feelings for Tony," Simons said. "He was a bad 
boy. He was a bad boy all his life. But when he was caught, he was the most 
forthcoming one of all, and he finally told the truth. I do feel sorry for his 
family, though. There are so many victims on both sides of this case."

Simons said before prosecutors agreed to let Anthony Melendez plead guilty and 
spare him a possible death sentence, they required him to take them to Koehne 
Park and show them what happened and where it happened. It was during Spence's 
1st trial and 2 years after the murders.

Melendez pointed to a tree where Montgomery was raped and killed. In a 
subsequent search of the area Melendez pointed out, former investigator Willie 
Tompkins found a bracelet buried under leaves that matched a custom-made 
necklace the girl was wearing, Simons said.

The unique necklace later was returned to Montgomery's mother, who identified 
it as her daughter's, Simons said.

"There are just so many facts in that case that you can't get around it," 
Simons said. "There is no doubt that they did it."

Trying to clear name

Despite Simons' feelings, others, including Waco attorney Walter M. Reaves Jr., 
were working to try to clear Melendez's name as recently as 3 years ago.

Reaves fought on several judicial levels to get DNA testing ordered on 
shoelaces used to tie up one of the victims.

Those helping Melendez hoped the DNA evidence would prove that someone else was 
responsible for the killings, but after the evidence was transferred to several 
labs around the country, nothing definitive has been reported from the testing. 
They hoped not only to set Melendez free and collect on a huge payday from the 
state when he was exonerated, but they also thought it might prove that Spence 
was not guilty when he was put to death by the state.

Reaves did not return phone messages Saturday.

Feazell, who prosecuted the Lake Waco cases and now has law offices in Waco and 
Austin, called questions about the defendant's guilt "BS" when asked about the 
efforts 3 years ago.

"Anyone who's read the trial transcripts . . . would know better and wouldn't 
give this story the time of day," Feazell said.

(source: Waco Tribune)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Death penalty to be sought against 2 in deaths of man, woman


Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against 2 men accused of 
having killed a young couple in their western Pennsylvania home before fleeing 
with a safe.

19-year-old Justin Stevenson and 18-year-old Nathaniel Price are charged in 
Indiana County with homicide, conspiracy and robbery in the October deaths of 
26-year-old Timothy Gardner and 20-year-old Jacqueline Brink.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/2jiyuzs ) reports that District 
Attorney Patrick Dougherty said Friday that capital punishment will be sought 
if the 2 are convicted of 1st-degree murder.

A 3rd defendant is ineligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the 
time of the Cherryhill Township slayings.

The county coroner said Gardner was assaulted with a pipe and Brink struck with 
a baseball bat.

(source: Associated Press)






VIRGINIA----impending execution

ACLU asks governor to stop Ricky Javon Gray execution


The ACLU of Virginia has asked Gov. Terry McAuliffe to grant a clemency request 
from death row inmate Ricky Javon Gray.

In a letter to the governor Friday, ACLU-VA Executive Director Claire Guthrie 
Gastanaga referred to the civil rights organization's blanket opposition to the 
death penalty, calling it "demonstrably ineffective and cruel and unusual 
punishment that should not be imposed in a just society, particularly where the 
penalty is applied arbitrarily and the procedure itself is inhumane." She 
suggested Gray's sentence be commuted to life in prison.

Gray is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Jan. 18. In the letter, 
Gastanaga also criticized the method of execution being deployed by the state, 
which intends to use drugs developed in secret, and at great expense, that have 
been used in botched executions in other states.

"No matter the circumstances, the method of execution, or the rarity of the 
death penalty being carried out, however, executions are inhumane, torture and 
cruel and unusual punishment that should not be exacted by a moral government," 
the letter states. "The acts of the individual that placed them on death row do 
not erase that and should not be used to condone state-conducted killing with 
the false promise of deterrence, justice or even retribution."

(source: Augusta Free Press)

********************

As we hear Ricky Gray's pleas for life, remember those he violently killed


Wait for it.

Over the next 3 days you're going to hear about Ricky Gray as the 39-year-old 
desperately tries to escape death.

He's scheduled for execution Wednesday in Virginia's death chamber. His lawyers 
are grasping at legal straws. They're calling lethal injection cruel and 
unusual punishment, and, having worked their unsuccessful way through lower 
courts, are now begging the U.S. Supreme Court and the governor to spare him.

Meanwhile the usual anti-death penalty types are telling anyone who will listen 
about Gray's allegedly abusive childhood, his drug use, his apologies.

But this column isn't about Gray, who's been in prison since 2006, getting 3 
squares a day, watching the seasons pass, reading, working out, meeting with 
lawyers or doing whatever it is prisoners do to pass the time.

It's about the forgotten people in Gray's story. The good people. The people 
whose story abruptly ended on Jan. 1, 2006.

It's almost always this way. In the aftermath of a killing, the news is about 
the murderer, not the murdered.

Name one of Ted Bundy's victims.

So today let's remember the young Harveys: Bryan, 49, Kathryn, 39, Stella Ann, 
9, and Ruby May, 4.

A family who reportedly brought enormous joy to each other and those around 
them died in a barbaric fashion.

They were murdered on New Year's Day, 2006. According to various news reports, 
the family was held hostage in their basement for several hours while Gray and 
an accomplice burglarized their Richmond home. The perps had been cruising the 
neighborhood, looking for a house to rob.

The Harveys - who, according to court papers were bound with electrical cords 
and packing tape - died of multiple causes: blunt force trauma to their heads 
from a claw hammer, stab wounds and smoke inhalation.

Is there a horror worse than the thought of children watching their parents 
bludgeoned to death and waiting their turn? Or of parents watching helplessly 
as their little ones are slaughtered?

No, there isn't.

The basement of the Harvey house was set ablaze. Firefighters first found the 
bodies.

In a 2015 story about the killings and a song inspired by the crimes, the 
online arts magazine Salon reported that "So pitiful and appalling was the 
state of the bodies that hardened cops and firemen reportedly cried at the 
scene."

That song, incidentally, is "2 Daughters and a Beautiful Wife," by Drive-By 
Truckers. Salon noted that it was the opening track on the band???s 2008 
"Brighter Than Creation's Dark" album.

Bryan Harvey was himself a talented musician. His death merited a mention in 
Rolling Stone on Jan. 4, 2006, where it was noted that "Bryan Harvey, 
singer/guitarist for the 80s blues-based rock duo House of Freaks, was found 
dead with his wife and 2 young daughters in the basement of the family's 
Richmond, Virginia, home over the weekend."

Kathryn Harvey was a Virginia Beach native who grew up in the Kings Grant 
neighborhood. A Virginian-Pilot story days after the slayings reported that she 
was the 1984 Cox High School homecoming queen. In Richmond, Kathryn was best 
known as part-owner of a "quirky toy boutique" called World of Mirth.

We don't know much about the girls. They weren't on Earth very long. But in a 
2006 piece on the crimes, The Richmond Times-Dispatch noted that the older 
daughter was in the 3rd grade and took "twice a week Spanish lessons and 
classes on ancient Greece, Rome and Mali."

The younger girl was a preschooler who "made a turkey out of a potato, 
feathers, toothpicks and glitter glue."

If they were alive today, Bryan would be 60. Kathryn would be 50, Stella would 
be 20 and little Ruby would be 15.

Instead, they're frozen in time. Most recognize their faces from a single photo 
of the tousled foursome on a beach that accompanied most news stories.

The Harveys weren't the only ones to lose their lives to Gray. There were more 
killings.

But it's capital-murder convictions in the Harvey case that put Gray on death 
row.

In that poignant Jan. 16, 2006, piece about the Harvey memorial service at 
Richmond's Byrd Theatre, the Times-Dispatch reported that "Old bandmates of 
Bryan Harvey took the stage to sing one of his songs, 'Remember Me Well':"

"When I'm gone from this world, please remember me well.

You can dance on my grave, you can ring out the bells.

After all's said and done, please remember me well."

(source: The Virginian-Pilot)

*************************

Death penalty on the table for 2 Louisa men


2 men accused of killing a Louisa resident now face the possibility of the 
death penalty.

A grand jury meeting on Monday in Louisa County Circuit Court found there was 
evidence to support a charge of capital murder brought by the commonwealth's 
attorney's office against Darcel Murphy and Dion Phoenix.

The charge against the 3rd defendant in the March 2015 murder, Tobias Owens, 
remains 1st-degree murder.

Kevin Robinson, the victim, was found dead in his home on March 30 with 
multiple gunshot wounds. Murphy, Phoenix and Owens were arrested within a week 
afterwards and have been in jail since then. Owens's trial is currently 
scheduled to begin on February 21, with Murphy's to start in July.

A date for Phoenix to be tried has not been set. A psychological evaluation in 
November found that Phoenix was fit to go to trial, after his previous 
attorney, Reed Amos, had suggested his client showed signs of not understanding 
the charges against him.

(source: The Central Virginian)






WEST VIRGINIA:

West Virginia Should Not Reinstate Death Penalty


West Virginia formally abolished the death penalty in 1965, with the last 
execution being in 1958.

There had been a de facto moratorium before abolition, so there was only 1 man 
on the "row" when I was a guard at the old Moundsville Penitentiary in 1963. I 
forget his name now but I clearly remember the man. He was an African-American 
from Huntington who had been convicted of raping a white woman.

I had several long conversations with him when I worked the midnight shift in 
what was called South Hall. His cell was close to the guard shanty, so if he 
was awake, I would go over and "fraternize" a little, which of course was 
forbidden but the corporal in charge really didn't care. As the inmates would 
say "It helped to pass the time." Anything that helps to pass the time is by 
definition good, both for inmates and guards.

Consequently, it came as an enormous shock a few months later when that I heard 
my name read off at roll call. I was one of 10 or 12 names assigned to the 
"Execution Squad"!

The next day I went to protest to Lt. Barlow, who was in charge of the squad. 
He told me not to worry because the Legislature was going to abolish the death 
penalty. However, he said that he had to form a squad every year and we had to 
go through one dry run. When I went on to protest about being on the squad in 
the first place, he leaned back in his chair and gave me a long hard look 
before saying softly, "You'd be surprised at how many guards come in here and 
volunteer. That's why we draw the names out of a hat. Besides, what sort of man 
would volunteer for a thing like that?"

A couple decades later, as a reporter for the old Graffiti newspaper, I 
attended the first execution in Ohio, after the reinstatement of the death 
penalty. Nosing around, I found that Ohio only accepted volunteers and they 
didn't give them any extra pay! At the last press conference before the 
execution, I asked the warden about this and he confirmed it.

Then I asked: "Isn't there a possibility that a guard who would volunteer to 
kill a helpless human being would be too sadistic to be a prison guard in the 
first place? In West Virginia, for example, they ..."

"Thank you, warden. Ladies and gentlemen, the press conference is over," a 
spokesman for Corrections swiftly interjected.

According to West Virginia University political science chairman John Williams 
and many other observers and political figures (including Democratic stalwarts 
such as James M. Sprouse and Darrell V. McGraw), it took a "perfect storm" of 
Gov. Hulett Smith, Senate President Howard Carson, and House Speaker Laban H. 
White to abolish the death penalty in West Virginia.

The question for today, however, is not why we abolished it but rather, over 
the intervening half century, why a bill to reintroduce the death penalty was 
never hit the floor of either house of the West Virginia Legislature.

Certainly we are as "redneck" as any state in the Union and almost everyone I 
know can come up with a theoretical set of facts that would merit execution. 
For example, Gaston Caperton favored the death penalty for "multiple murders" 
but was unwilling to specify to me just what the "thumbs down" number would be.

Certainly, the national trend is away from the implementation of the death 
penalty, but the remaining death rows are filled up. For example, in 
Pennsylvania some 200 men (and one woman) are awaiting execution, but the 
Commonwealth has only executed 3 men (all volunteers) since the re-imposition 
in 1978.

According to a 2014 story in the Reading (Pa.) Eagle, the "out-of-pocket" cost 
for the death penalty are in excess of $800 million.

In Pennsylvania, a couple of men have been on the "Capital Unit" for over 30 
years. They are kept under solitary confinement conditions, indistinguishable 
from the "hole" which is used from disciplinary purposes. This leads to a 
curious argument by one resident: "I was sentenced to die, not spend 22 years 
in solitary confinement." This inmate has a pending request to be executed.

Many people expect our Legislature in the coming session to re-enact the death 
penalty as part of the conservative legislative agenda. This would be 
ill-advised, in my opinion, since we are actually in the vanguard of the 
abolitionist movement, a state that done away with the death penalty and stuck 
with it. It is nice to see West Virginia for once in the forefront for 
something positive.

This fits in with our Biblical heritage, since the "mark of Cain" in Genesis is 
for the protection of the "man slayer" and not a call for punishment.

(source: Guest Column, H. John Rogers----He is the corresponding secretary for 
CLOFIA, INC., a West Virginia nonprofit dedicated to ending "death rows" by 
placing these prisoners in the general population of the states' maximum 
security prisons; The Wheeling Intelligencer)






NORTH CAROLINA:

State seeks death penalty in Iredell homicide ---- Search warrant details 
grisly crime; Suspect Gary Love due in court this week


As new details emerge in the case against the man charged with killing a Cool 
Springs woman over Christmas weekend, attorneys are preparing for a hearing to 
discuss the possibility he could face the death penalty.

The hearing in Gary Love's case is expected to be held Tuesday in Iredell 
County Superior Court, according to Love's attorney, Ken Darty of Statesville.

Love, who is accused of killing Robin Denman in her Cool Springs Road home Dec. 
24, will be brought from Raleigh to Iredell for the hearing.

At the hearing, district attorney's office representatives will present 
evidence that the state will seek the death penalty. Superior Court Judge Julia 
Gullett is scheduled to preside.

Denman, 46, a veteran and mother of three, was found beaten to death after 
deputies responded to her home on Dec. 26. A teenage family member living with 
Denman texted a friend for help earlier that morning, and later reported she 
was held captive and sexually assaulted by Love over the same weekend.

A search warrant application investigators filed seeking a saliva swab from 
Love describes details about what deputies found at the home that day.

When the 2 deputies came to the home about 7:30 a.m., Love opened the door and 
told deputies Denman and the juvenile were at a funeral, the document said. 
Deputies asked for a phone number to contact Denman, and noticed that Love's 
hands were shaking.

Love then said he had to let his puppies outside, ran out the back door and 
jumped over a chain link fence, according to the warrant. He was taken into 
custody shortly after.

One of the deputies saw the juvenile running down the street away and onto a 
neighbor's porch, trying to get inside. When she noticed the deputy's uniform, 
she approached and explained that she thought Love hurt the deputies, stole the 
patrol car and was chasing her.

She then stated was raped and last saw Denman tied up on a bed 2 days earlier, 
the warrant application stated.

Denman's body was found inside the home's master bathroom, in the tub, hidden 
under a pile of clothes.

The warrant states the juvenile was held in a closet over the weekend and only 
let out to be raped.

Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said the juvenile managed to get a hold of her 
phone without Love noticing at the time. After texting for help, she deleted 
the message, a move Campbell said was "clever."

Love was charged with murder, 10 counts of statutory sex offense with a child, 
sexual servitude of a child, indecent liberties with a child, 1st degree 
kidnapping and assault on a female.

Amanda Driver, a family friend Denman, said the girl is now living with family 
in Greensboro and is attempting to adjust to her new life.

"She's a trooper," Driver said. "She's trying to push through and see the 
bright side of things."

Love lived with Denman for around 3 months after moving to the area from Ohio, 
investigators said. He previously lived in New York, where he originally met 
Denman.

(source: statesville.com)

**********************

Suspect in November Asheville murder makes 1st court appearance


1 of the 2 suspects in the November shooting death of Travis Mayfield made his 
1st court appearance in Buncombe County Friday.

Travoscia Brown, 25, is charged with 1st-degree murder and could face the death 
penalty or life in prison if found guilty of killing 40-year-old Mayfield.

Police say the homicide happened in the early morning of November 10, 2016, at 
Deaverview Apartments, after an argument between the suspects and Mayfield.

Mayfield was found shot in the back of the neck and later died at the hospital.

Family members hope the court proceedings will shed light on exactly what 
happened that night.

Israel Mayfield, cousin of Travis Mayfield, "I hope that these guys get the 
justice that they deserve. There was no need for this to happen. We don't know 
what the story was and would like to get a better idea of what happened."

Brown's next court date is February 3, 2017.

He also faces several other charges, including breaking and entering a motor 
vehicle and financial card theft.

The other suspect in this case, 23-year-old Frederick Simpson, Jr. was arrested 
in Georgia.

Asheville Police say he is awaiting extradition and a court date in Buncombe 
County has yet to be set.

(source: WLOS news)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

James Robertson, York County's only death row inmate, gets new shot at avoiding 
sentence


Just when it appeared that Rock Hill's James Robertson had run out of options 
in trying to avoid the death penalty, the S.C. Supreme Court has offered 1 more 
legal maneuver.

The S.C. Supreme Court ruled recently in a split decision that lawyers in death 
penalty cases must have a combination of death penalty trial experience, 
post-conviction relief experience, plus other continuing education. Robertson's 
lawyers did not have that, the supreme court says. So, in an effort to reverse 
his conviction and sentence, Robertson gets a chance to argue that his lawyers 
blew the case in 1999.

Legal experts say Robertson's chances are small. The ruling does mean a slim 
chance at avoiding the death penalty, said Kennth Gaines, a criminal law expert 
and professor at the University of South Carolina law school.

"The chances of success are low, Gaines said. "Really low."

James "Jimmy" Robertson, 43, was sentenced to death in 1999. He was found 
guilty of killing Terry and Earl Robertson in their Rock Hill home in November 
1997 in an attempt to get their multi-million dollar estate. He fled to 
Pennsylvania, leaving a trail of credit card purchases and evidence, including 
the murder weapons, and was caught by police in Philadelphia. The 1999 trial 
was broadcast live nationwide on Court TV. All of Robertson's appeals have 
failed. Execution dates have twice been set for Robertson, the only death row 
inmate with York County roots.

But the S.C. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that Robertson is entitled to a new 
hearing because of the qualifications of his lawyers in a failed 2008 lawsuit. 
Robertson claimed in that 2008 post-conviction relief lawsuit that his trial 
lawyers botched the case in 1999 by not pursuing a guilty but mentally ill plea 
deal, among other alleged errors. A judge had a 3-day hearing in 2008 and ruled 
against Robertson.

Robertson and an anti-death penalty group from Columbia, and Cornell law school 
in New York, say in court documents that Robertson's lawyers in the 2008 
lawsuit, Michael Brown and the late Joe Matlock, did not have the required 
experience.

It took the S.C. Supreme Court 14 months to make a decision after hearing 
arguments in October 2015.

"It is a technical decision, but the supreme court ruling says the law wasn't 
followed," Gaines said.

The ruling does not free Roberson or give him a new trial. If he wins his 
lawsuit, Robertson could get a new trial or sentencing hearing.

No date has been set for the new hearing, said Hayley Thrift Bledsoe, 
spokesperson for the S.C. Attorney General's Office, which will again argue 
that Robertson does not deserve another appeal and should be executed.

Efforts to reach Robertson's current lawyers, Keir Weyble of Cornell Law school 
in New York and Emily Paavola of Columbia , were unsuccessful.

"In capital cases, courts are very careful about the rights of a defendant," 
Gaines said. "The lawyers for Robertson seemed like they left no stone unturned 
when trying to seek a new hearing, and they got one."

(source: The Herald)