Murder conviction overturned after 17 years on death row

TAMPA - A Tampa judge says a man on death row since 1984 deserves a new trial, since evidence withheld from his attorney might have changed the outcome of the trial.

Juan Melendez had been condemned for the murder of Delbert Baker in Polk County. The murder conviction and death sentence were upheld several times. The latest appeal was filed last fall and a hearing was this summer.

In Wednesday’s ruling, Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer notes that there was no physical evidence against Melendez. She also says jurors did not get to hear important facts about the state’s two witnesses, which might have discredited their testimony.

The jury also did not hear testimony from several other witnesses that a man by the name of Vernon James told them he had killed Baker. The appeal attorney says James was killed a couple of years after Melendez was sent to death row.

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