Jerry Hartfield /Michael Graczyk / AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a Texas man — who was imprisoned for 35 years while waiting for a second murder trial — to remain free.
The justices on Monday rejected the state’s appeal in the case of Jerry Hartfield.
Hartfield was twice convicted of killing a bus ticket saleswoman in Bay City, about 100 miles southwest of Houston. The first conviction and death sentence were overturned in 1980. Hartfield was not tried a second time until 2015.
But a Texas appeals court ruled that the long wait violated Hartfield’s constitutional right to a speedy trial and ordered his case dismissed.
