Joseph "Jody" Ard, who became the 1st person in South Carolina...

Joseph "Jody" Ard, who became the 1st person in South Carolina sentenced to death for killing a fetus, has had his conviction overturned. Recent improvements in forensic tests have produced new evidence supporting Ard's defense that the shooting of his 8-month pregnant girlfriend was accidental, Circuit Court Judge Ernest Kinard said in a 27-page ruling. A Lexington County jury convicted Ard in 1996 and sentenced him to death for killing Madalyn Coffey, 17, and the couple's fetus, which was nearly full term. Authorities say the baby suffocated after its mother died. In his ruling, Kinard said Ard's attorneys during the trial were ineffective. He also said the trial judge committed "abuse of discretion" by dismissing a black juror, though the dismissal wasn't challenged in Ard's initial appeal.