San Antonio federal District Judge Royal Furgeson overturned the...

San Antonio federal District Judge Royal Furgeson overturned the death sentence of Kenneth Foster, convicted as the getaway driver in the 1996 murder of Michael LaHood Jr. 
Foster was one of four implicated in the alleged botched robbery attempt that led to LaHood's death; though he was not the triggerman, and played no direct role in LaHood's murder, he was convicted for the crime under the state's law of parties. In invoking that statute, prosecutors had to prove that Foster and his cohorts agreed to commit armed robbery, and that they should've anticipated that their risky behavior might cause LaHood's death. In Foster's case, the jury agreed that Foster should've foreseen that the reckless actions of his acquaintance, Maurecio Brown, could result in LaHood's murder. As such, they convicted Foster and sentenced him to die.
In a 95-page opinion, Furgeson denied each of the claims Foster made in connection to his underlying guilt - including that the evidence was insufficient to determine that he should've anticipated LaHood's death - still, he determined that Foster's death sentence is unconstitutional. While evidence of Foster's tangential involvement in the crime was proof enough to convict him, Furgeson wrote, it was not sufficient to warrant a death sentence. "There was no evidence - before Foster's sentencing jury which would have supported a finding that Foster either actually killed LaHood or that Foster intended to kill LaHood or another person," he wrote. "Therein lies the fundamental constitutional defect in Foster's sentence."
Furgeson's ruling gives the state 90 days to either offer Foster a new sentencing trial, with a new jury, or to vacate his death sentence and impose a life sentence. In the meantime, the state is expected to appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.