USA - California. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has tossed out the death sentence of Scott Pinholster

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has tossed out the death sentence of Scott Pinholster because of bad legal representation. Eight of the 11 judges of the Court of Appeals ruled that Pinholster's lawyer failed to present to a Los Angeles County jury evidence of mental illness during the penalty phase of his murder trial. Pinholster was convicted in June 1984 of killing two men in 1982. The court upheld his first-degree murder conviction. (see also May 2, 2008).