USA - Alabama. Larry Randell Smith, 42, white, sentenced to death in 1996, was released today

Larry Randell Smith, 42, white, who had been in prison for 17 years, much of it on death row, was released today after a successful appeal of his capital murder conviction allowed him to plead guilty to a lesser charge. A plea deal was reached that allowed Smit to be released after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. The murder charges against him were dropped. Smith was sentenced to death in August 1996 in the Sept. 23, 1994 robbery and shooting death of Dennis Harris. His conviction hinged on a statement he made after 4 hours of interrogation. In violation of police guidelines, his interrogation was not recorded, and Mr. Smith later said his admission of involvement in the crime was coerced and influenced by threats made to prosecute his wife. No physical evidence or eyewitness account linked Mr. Smith to the murder, and a witness, who said Smith hatched a plan to rob the victim, was later implicated in planning the crime himself. On Jan. 12, 2007, an Alabama Circuit Court ordered a retrial, and on October 1, 2010 (see) the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals agreed that Smith deserved a new trial because his lawyer was ineffective. District Attorney Steve Marshall said prosecutors agreed to the deal because the victim's mother, Diane Maier, agreed to it, believing that Smith did not pull the trigger when her son was shot to death.