22 years ago, Angie Anderson begged a judge not to condemn...

22 years ago, Angie Anderson begged a judge not to condemn her mother's killer to death row.
The judge sentenced James Floyd to die anyway.
Floyd sat on death row for 20 years before the Florida Supreme Court gave him a new trial last year.
Though Angie Anderson died several years ago, her niece decided to continue her fight. Elizabeth Blair called prosecutors and told them she did not want Floyd returned to death row.
Today, in a deal with prosecutors, Floyd was sentenced to life in prison.
"I did not want him to die, and I didn't want his family to suffer the murder of their father or their brother or their son," Blair said "What good is anger and hatred."
Floyd was sentenced to death row in 1984 for the murder of Blair's grandmother, 86-year-old Annie Bar Anderson.
Floyd was arrested after police caught him trying to cash Anderson's checks. He was convicted and sent to death row. 2 years later, the Florida Supreme Court gave Floyd a new trial because a judge gave the jury confusing instructions. He again was convicted and condemned. Mrs. Anderson's daughter, Angie, a Christian missionary in Africa, pleaded after both trials that Floyd be spared. She even met with Floyd in prison. "Mother believed and I believe that we must be instruments of the peace of God, which includes justice and mercy," Anderson said in court. "This young man must be punished, but give him life, a chance to become somebody, a chance to change."
On March 24 the state high court again ordered a new trial for Floyd. Defense attorneys discovered evidence had been withheld from Floyd's trial attorneys. By this time, several key witnesses had died or could not be found. owever, DNA tests of hair found on Anderson's sweater - technology not available 20 years ago - was matched to Floyd. Still, the case was challenging enough that prosecutors agreed to a deal when the idea was broached by Floyd's attorney, Martin McClain. Floyd pleaded guilty to the murder in exchange for a life sentence. Though a life sentence today does not include the possibility of parole, the law in the 1980s allowed inmates to seek parole after 25 years.