Jeremy Sheets era da quattro anni nel braccio della morte in Nebraska, ma ora verra' scarcerato, dopo che la Corte suprema non ha accolto il ricorso dell'accusa contro una sentenza d'appello che aveva cancellato la sua condanna alla pena capitale. Sheets era stato condannato nel 1997 per lo stupro e l'omicidio di una diciassettenne. ''Ha sempre detto che non era stato lui - ha detto il suo avvocato William Gallup - Anche seci sono voluti quattro anni, e' contento di continuare a vivere''. L'uomo, che ha 27 anni, uscira' di carcere non appena saranno state sbrigate le pratiche burocratiche. La Corte suprema si e' rifiutata di valutare il ricorso dello stato del Nebraska contro S heets, assolto in appello dalla corte suprema statale, che ha dichiarato inservibile la prova che inchiodava Sheets: una cassetta audio fatta da un presunto complice. Non poteva essere considerata attendibile, ha detto la corte suprema statale, perche' il complice si e'suicidato prima del processo e non e' stato possibile alladifesa di controinterrogarlo. Si tratta dell'ennesimo errore del sistema che, dicono gliavversari della pena capitale, dimostra la necessita' di fermarele esecuzioni. Ma per il procuratore d'accusa Jim Jansen, non cisono dubbi che Sheets fosse colpevole: ''si parla spesso diinnocenti condannati. Ma questo e' il caso opposto. Comunque non tenteremo di riprocessarlo. Quella cassetta era l'unica prova''.

- Tuesday May 15

Death Row Inmate to Be Set Free

 OMAHA, Neb. - A 27-year-old Nebraska man who has spent four years on death row will walk out of prison a free man after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a state court decision throwing out his conviction, attorneys involved in the case said Tuesday.Jeremy Sheets, convicted in 1997 of the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl, will be freed within a month, pending the filing of final paperwork, said J. William Gallup, Sheets' attorney.``He had always said he didn't do it.'' Gallup said. ``Even though it took four years, he is glad to be alive.''The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not hear the state's appeal of a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling last autumn that overturned Sheets' conviction. The court ruled the key piece of evidence used to convict Sheets, a tape recording made by an alleged accomplice, could not be used as evidence because the accomplice committed suicide before trial and could not be cross-examined.Douglas County Attorney Jim Jansen agreed Sheets would be freed as soon as the paperwork was in order, and said that he did not expect to retry Sheets.``The tape was the sole focus as identifying Sheets as the murderer,'' he said Tuesday.But Jansen said he remained convinced of Sheets' guilt.``We hear so much about innocent people being convicted. This is the reverse of that,'' Jansen said. ``There isn't any doubt in too many people's minds that this is the man responsible for this murder.''The Nebraska case is one of many recent incidents in which individuals sentenced to death have been freed based on new evidence or errors made at trial. Death penalty opponents say the wave of death row inmates being found wrongly convicted should cause states to do away with executions, or at least impose moratoriums to study the matter.Nebraska is one of 38 U.S. states that put criminals to death, and is one of three states that use the electric chair as its sole means of execution. The 35 other states with capital punishment use lethal injection or let the inmate choose the method of execution.The Sheets case began in 1992 when the body of high school honor student Kenyatta Bush was found dumped in a wooded area north of Omaha.For four years, the case went unsolved, until police arrested a man named Adam Barnett, who admitted to participating in the crime and named Sheets as an accomplice. Barnett's account was tape-recorded by investigators, but he hanged himself in his cell before the case went to trial.Sheets' attorney argued the recording was inadmissible because Sheets did not have the opportunity to confront his accuser. He persisted in that argument, successfully getting the conviction overturned in October.``I didn't want my client to die in the electric chair, that would be on my shoulders,'' he said.Gallup said Barnett, who was married at the time he was arrested but is now divorced, will likely leave town and try to start fresh somewhere else.``He doesn't really have any plans. I've advised him he should leave town and start new somewhere else. There will always be people who will think he did it.''