Retrial begins for man held in prison another 35 years after conviction was tossed
A retrial begins on Monday for a Texas inmate imprisoned an additional 35 years after an appeals court ruling overturned his conviction.
Prosecutors say they may be partially responsible for the delay in retrying Jerry Hartfield, 59, but Hartfield is also responsible for not seeking the retrial, the Associated Press reports.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Hartfield’s capital murder sentence in 1980 because a juror who expressed reservations about the death penalty should not have been dismissed for cause. Though the ruling overturned only the sentence, state law at the time required a new trial. Three years later, Texas’ governor commuted Hartfield’s sentence to life in prison.
In 2006, a fellow inmate informed Hartfield that because of the appeals court ruling, it appeared there was no sentence to commute. Hartfield sought a retrial or release from prison with the inmate’s help.
Hartfield no longer faces the death penalty because of a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred the execution of mentally impaired people. Hartfield’s IQ of 67 is below the threshold, a psychologist testified on Friday.
Hartfield was convicted in 1977 in the pickaxe murder of a bus station ticketing agent. Hartfield confessed, but he later said the confession was “bogus.” Another piece of evidence was an unused bus ticket at the crime scene that had his fingerprints.
If Hartfield is convicted again, he will immediately be eligible for parole, according to the AP story.
