Mr. Hartfield, a black man, signed a confession that he later disavowed, and, crucially, investigators said he told them where to find Ms. Lowe’s car. After years of legal wrangling, the high court ruling took effect in March 1983. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyStarting in 2006, a fellow inmate helped Mr. Hartfield file motions in various courts. Finally, in 2013, Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Mr. Hartfield’s conviction and life sentence were void, but his motions were also void. (The Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that intellectually disabled people cannot be executed.)

Source: New York Times January 20, 2017 01:06 UTC