The Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction of Michael Blair, upholding a lower-court ruling made last month.

The Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin overturned the conviction of Michael Blair, sent to death row for a 1993 child slaying that became known as the "Ashley's Killer" case. The Court set aside the guilty verdict and death sentence given to Michael Blair, upholding a lower-court ruling made last month. Blair, now 38, was convicted in 1994 of strangling and molesting 7-year-old Ashley Estell in suburban Dallas. Ashley's body was found in a remote area of Collin County on Sept. 5, 1993, a day after she disappeared from a park where her brother was playing soccer. Ashley's death prompted state lawmakers to pass tough sexual-predator measures called "Ashley's Laws" requiring longer prison terms and public registration for sex offenders. Prosecutors acknowledged last month that DNA evidence does not implicate Blair and shows that another man, now deceased, is a viable suspect in the girl's death. Blair, however, will remain in prison. While behind bars, he confessed and eventually pleaded guilty to sexual assaults of other children in the early 1990s. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences and a 4th to be served concurrently. Blair is expected to be removed from death row and returned to the general prison population, said his attorney, Roy Greenwood. Blair has been on death row in Huntsville since his conviction 14 years ago. It is also expected that Collin County prosecutors will drop the charges against Blair. In a filing last month, prosecutors agreed that "no reasonable juror would have convicted him in light of newly discovered evidence."