Calvin Jerold Burdine, whose lawyer slept for long...

Calvin Jerold Burdine, whose lawyer slept for long portions of his murder trial, will either win freedom or a new trial. The Supreme Court' rejected an appeal from Texas authorities, who argued that the lawyer's inattention did not necessarily equal an unfair trial. Burdine was convicted of stabbing to death his gay lover, W.T. Wise, in 1983. Jurors and a court clerk later described how court-appointed lawyer Joe Cannon slept for up to 10 minutes at a time during the 1984 trial. Burdine was sentenced to death. Cannon, has since died.
The case is Cockrell v. Burdine, 01-495.