After spending four decades in prison for killing a police officer, former Black Panther Marshall “Eddie” Conway is finally free, thanks to a court decision which reduced the prison sentences of several inmates. The Baltimore Sun reports that Conway, now 67, always maintained his innocence after being accused of killing Officer Donald Sager in 1970. After Conway requested a new trial, based on the theory that a Maryland Court of Appeals decision rendered all verdicts before 1980 invalid due to faulty jury instructions, the state decided that retrying Conway was too cumbersome and commuted his life sentence to time served. Conway headed to a friend’s house after being released and ate veggie lasagna. “He’s just taking it all in,” said advocate Dominique Stevenson. Supporters of Conway believe that he is not the first Black Panther to have been set up and framed in a killing because of their association with the black activist group. Sager’s son, however, said he was crushed by Conway’s release from prison. He decided not to attend the hearing. “My mother passed away two years ago, and in a way I’m glad that she’s not around to see this,” he said. “This is a very sad day. I think this is another tragedy on our justice system, one of a string of tragedies.” The 2012 Maryland Court of Appeals ruling has left the door open for a number of inmates to fight to have their convictions overturned. Prosecutors have often negotiated with inmates or reduced sentences to reach a resolution in these cases.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 13:50:04 +0000
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