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Texas Death Sentence Overturned

By Steve Hall

"Federal judge overturns death sentence for '98 murder," is the title of Logan Carver's report in the Saturday edition of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.A federal judge this week overturned Michael Yowell?s 1999 death sentence, citing ineffective assistance of trial counsel and error by the trial court.Yowell, 40, will receive a new punishment hearing in the 140th District Court if the ruling by U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings is not appealed or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit denies the appeal.A phone message was not returned by Ed Marshall, who handles post-conviction litigation for the Texas Attorney General?s Office, and it remained unclear whether the ruling would be appealed.Cummings ruled Yowell?s trial attorney, Jack Stoffregen, did not adequately defend him during the punishment phase of the 1999 trial and that Judge Jim Bob Darnell violated Yowell?s constitutional rights by not allowing testimony that could have persuaded jurors to spare his life...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on August 30, 2010 (boomark / email).