Delaware

Delaware Supreme Court to Decide if Former Death Row Inmate's Confession Can Be Used at New Trial

The Delaware Supreme Court is set to hear arguments involving a man who spent more than two decades on death row before being set free.

Wednesday's hearing involves prosecutors' appeal of a judge's ruling that they cannot retry Jermaine Wright using a coerced confession he gave to police while high on heroin.

Wright was sentenced to death for the murder of 66-year-old liquor store clerk Phillip Seifert in 1991.

The judge ruled in 2012 that Wright's confession was defective, but the state Supreme Court reversed that ruling, saying the judge's review was procedurally barred.

But following yet another appeal on other unresolved issues, the Supreme Court ruled last year that Wright was entitled to a new trial. After that, the judge denied admission of the confession as evidence.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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