USA - California. Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong overturned the 1980 murder conviction and death sentence of Marvin Pete Walker Jr., 51, black.

U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong overturned the 1980 murder conviction and death sentence of Marvin Pete Walker Jr., 51, black. In the ruling, the federal judge concluded that he had been improperly shackled in a visible, leg-locking brace during the trial unconstitutional, noting that one juror said in appellate proceedings that it "seemed like a short lead on a vicious dog." Armstrong concluded that the trial judge, now-deceased John Schatz, did not establish any valid reasons for restraining Walker, and the defense lawyer failed to raise any objections. in front of the jury throughout his trial, tainting the verdict and violating legal precedent barring the shackling of defendants without exceptional circumstances. Walker was sentenced to die in Santa Clara County for the August 1979 fatal shooting of Joseph Vasquez, a 15-year-old student, in a liquor store during a $150 holdup. Attorney General Kamala Harris' office has until Friday to decide whether to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.