former death row inmate gets new sentence.

former death row inmate gets new sentence. Charles Walker was hours away from being executed by lethal injection in 2004 when he was granted a reprieve (see December 2, 2004). Today, he is off death row after the attorney who prosecuted him agreed to downgrade the murder charge that sent him there. Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann agreed to let Walker plead to lesser charges, and he was sentenced to 30 years. Walker was convicted in 1995 for the shooting death of Elmon Tito Davidson Jr. On January 25, 2006 (see), a Superior Court judge granted Walker a new trial, finding that one of Walker's co-conspirators lied when he testified against him and that investigators for the state withheld evidence in the trial. But Walker decided to enter an Alford plea Monday to the charges of conspiracy to commit murder and accessory to murder. An Alford plea means a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction. Superior Court Judge L. Todd Burke sentenced Walker, giving him credit for about 15 years -- the time he has spent in custody.