USA - California. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Michael Allen Hamilton 's death sentence

In San Francisco, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously overturned  Michael Allen Hamilton 's death sentence, ruling that his trial lawyer provided exceptionally poor representation. The Court of Appeals upheld Hamilton's 1st-degree murder conviction today, but ordered authorities to either convert his sentence to life in prison without parole or conduct another trial to determine his sentence. Hamilton was convicted of the 1981 slaying of his pregnant wife. The 3-judge panel of the appeals court ruled that Hamilton's lawyer failed to present evidence of his traumatic childhood in an attempt to persuade the jury to reject the death penalty.