In Jackson County, Circuit Judge Charles Atwell overturned...

In Jackson County, Circuit Judge Charles Atwell overturned Lemoine Carter's death sentences to life without parole. Judge Atwell said recent U.S. Supreme Court and Missouri Supreme Court (this June) rulings made it impossible for prosecutors to again seek death in the case against Carter. The 2 higher courts have ruled that juries and not judges must impose death sentences. In Carter's case, another Jackson County judge imposed 2 death sentences in 1995 after a jury could not agree on whether to recommend death or life without parole. Carter, 36, was convicted of shooting Ralph Serrano and LeVonn Baker-Howard to death in April 1994.