California’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Wins in Ninth Circuit

A federal appeals court set aside the capital sentence of California’s longest serving death-row inmate on Monday. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit tracked that of a lower court, which found that a lawyer for Douglas Ray Stankewitz failed to investigate circumstances leading up to the murder, namely Mr. Stankewitz's abusive childhood and long history of substance abuse.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/10/29/court-sets-aside-capital-sentence-of-califorinias-longest-serving-death-row-inmate/?mod=WSJBlog

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