Lonnie Wright Richie, 41, who has spent more than 14 years on death row, could get a new trial

Lonnie Wright Richie, 41, who has spent more than 14 years on death row, could get a new trial, based on a Tulsa federal judge's finding that his 1993 trial was "tainted by constitutional error." In a 92-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern found that Richie is entitled to relief in the form of a new trial on two grounds — that a Tulsa County judge did not instruct jurors properly and that defense counsel failed to present mental-health evidence on Richie's behalf. Assistant State Attorney General Jennifer Miller said she is "pretty sure that we will appeal" Kern's ruling to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Kern's order directed prosecutors to start proceedings to retry Richie, 41, within 180 days. In September 1993, a jury imposed a death sentence upon convicting Richie of the Aug. 28, 1991 1st-degree murder of Laura Elaine Launhardt, 34.