SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors in Florida have decided to drop all counts against a former death row inmate during jury selection for his second trial on charges that he murdered two neighbors.
The State Attorney’s Office in Sanford asked for the charges to be dropped Monday after the credibility of a key witness was questioned.
State Attorney Phil Archer said in a statement that he felt there was sufficient evidence to retry Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin. But he said the case wouldn’t meet a standard mandated by the Florida Supreme Court of having likely success at trial.
Aguirre-Jarquin spent 14 years in prison, including 10 years on death row, for the stabbing deaths of Cheryl Williams and Carol Bareis.
His conviction was overturned after his attorneys found witnesses who say a relative confessed to the crimes.
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