Jul 3, 2014
A 34-year-old man sentenced to life in prison without parole in a teenager’s 1993 dance hall death was freed Thursday after a legal compromise spurred by a judge’s favorable ruling on his claims of innocence.
St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Bryan Hettenbach reduced Anthony Williams’ first-degree murder conviction to second-degree murder and ordered his immediate release on a 20-year sentence, with credit for time served.
The ruling came two weeks after a Cole County judge overturned Williams’ conviction in the shooting death of 14-year-old Cortez Andrews, citing potentially exculpatory evidence that Williams’ appellate lawyer said his trial attorney never received from prosecutors. Williams was also 14 at the time of the crime but was certified to stand trial as an adult. He was also convicted of armed criminal action.
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