- October 10 

Judge Overturns Death Row Conviction

ST. LOUIS  - A federal judge has overturned the conviction of a death row inmate who pleaded guilty to murdering two men.

 U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol ruled that Robert Shafer's decision not to have legal representation when he pleaded guilty was not made ``knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily.''

 Lawrence also ruled that the judge who sentenced Shafer to death in 1993, when he was 22, failed to consider mitigating circumstances. The state must retry or release Shafer.

 The order, issued Oct. 3, gave the state 60 days to begin proceedings for a retrial.

 Prosecutors said they are deciding what to do. If they do not pursue retrial, Shafer could be released.

 Shafer said he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and asked for the death penalty because he wanted someone to pay attention to his case.

 ``I realize it was risky to do that,'' he said. ``But after three years of sitting in the county jail, I just gave up. I was living a never-ending nightmare, and I just wanted it to be over.''

 He said he was guilty only of helping to plan a robbery of the victims.

 A co-defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 121/2 years in prison. He was paroled last year.