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October 30, 2012

California Death Row Prisoner Wins Appeal for New Trial or Sentencing 
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A federal appeals has upheld a ruling vacating the death sentence of
California's longest-serving death row prisoner. The 9th Circuit ruled
Monday that Douglas Ray Stankewitz is entitled to either a new trial or
re-sentencing because of a failed effort to investigate his upbringing,
including an abusive childhood and extensive substance abuse.
Stankewitz, a Native American, has been on death row since 1978 for a
kidnapping and murder.

 

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