WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | South Carolina Supreme Court grants death row inmate new trial

South Carolina Supreme Court grants death row inmate new trial

(Columbia-AP) January 30, 2006 - The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Monday that a death row inmate should get a new trial because his original attorney failed to provide an adequate defense.

The state's highest court reviewed a previous decision after the U.S. Supreme Court said that death row inmates should not automatically get new trials if their lawyers made a strategic decision not to pursue a strong defense.

But the South Carolina court says that was not the case with Robert Lee Nance's attorney. The court says in some instances Nance actually bolstered the case against his own client.

Nance was convicted in the 1992 slaying of 73-year-old Violet Fraley of Florence. Her husband was seriously injured in the attack.

A jury also convicted Nance of rape, attempted murder, burglary and armed robbery.

posted 2:46pm by Bryce Mursch