The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Luzenski...

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Luzenski Allen Cottrell should get a new trial because a jury was not allowed to consider a lesser charge. Horry County jurors who convicted Cottrell should have been able to consider voluntary manslaughter because the officer he shot may have been overly aggressive in questioning and restraining him, Justice Costa Pleicones wrote in the 4-1 decision. Cottrell, 30, was sentenced to death on Apr. 6, 2005 (see) for shooting, on Dec. 29, 2002, officer Joe McGarry. McGarry followed Cottrell into the store parking lot and asked him some questions. Although he was not under arrest, Cottrell was pinned against a car. As the 2 struggled, Cottrell shot McGarry in the face. He was then involved in a shootout with another officer before he fled. It's unlikely Cottrell will leave prison anytime soon. After he was sent to death row for killing McGarry, Cottrell was convicted of killing Jonathan Love and burying him in a grave in November 2002.