the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed the murder conviction of a paraplegic

the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed the murder conviction of a paraplegic who has been on death row since 1984 for fatally shooting 2 police officers from his wheelchair.
The Court ruled 3 to 0 that Jackson Daniels' trial judge had refused to allow him to be represented by a lawyer he trusted and appointed an inexperienced ex-prosecutor who failed to investigate Daniels' mental condition. The appellate court also said the judge should have transferred the case to another county because of pretrial publicity.
Daniels, a 66-year-old paraplegic, has been living in a hospital at San Quentin State Prison for the entire time he has been on death row.
He became a paraplegic in 1980 when he was shot 9 times by Riverside police officers as he was trying to flee from a bank robbery. Under a plea agreement, Daniels pleaded guilty in exchange for being permitted to remain free on his own recognizance for 6 months so he could seek medical treatment. When, in 1982, Daniels failed to turn himself in, a warrant was issued for his arrest and Officers Dennis Doty and Phil Trust went to get him, Daniels drew a gun from between his legs and fatally shot Doty and Trust. Daniels told his attorney that the he had "paid them back because of what they had done to him".