Michael Lee Fullwood, 48, who was convicted of the...

Michael Lee Fullwood, 48, who was convicted of the March 29, 1985 murder of Deirdre Waters, had his death sentence overturned by Graham C. Mullen, chief U.S. District Court judge for the Western District of North Carolina. Fullwood was sentenced to death on Dec. 12, 1985, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that sentence, along with dozens of others, because of constitutional issues in the state's death penalty law. In 1994, another jury sentenced Fullwood to death. Last week, the judge found that a juror in Fullwood's second sentencing hearing knew of the previous death sentence and told other jurors about it, prejudicing the jury. Buncombe County District Attorney has two choices: appeal the decision in federal court or pursue a new sentencing hearing at the state level within 180 days of the judge's decision.