Superior Court Judge Michael Beale of Wadesboro has...

Superior Court Judge Michael Beale of Wadesboro has thrown out the murder conviction of Jerry Lee Hamilton because prosecutors or police withheld evidence that might have freed him. The judge overturned the death sentence and ordered a new trial because "the withholding of this evidence is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of this trial." Hamilton, 44, was convicted in 1997 of murder in the death of Joy Jones Goebel on Dec. 18, 1994.