12/3/01

Alabama Death Row Inmate's Conviction Overturned

     An appeals court in Alabama has ruled that death row inmate James Lewis Martin Jr. is entitled to a new trial because prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence. "The verdict here was so tainted by the prosecutorial nondisclosure of material evidence that it was not 'worthy of confidence.'  Martin was not convicted or sentenced in accordance with fundamental due process," wrote Judge Sue Bell Cobb. Among the key pieces of evidence withheld from Martin's attorneys were the fact that a key witness gave a statement under hypnosis and that another witness identified a different person in a police lineup.  In 1990, Martin came within three days of execution before the Alabama Supreme Court granted a stay to allow him to pursue additional appeals.