USA - Oklahoma. The Court of Appeals has overturned the death sentence of Victor Wayne Hooks, 50, black

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has overturned the death sentence of Victor Wayne Hooks, 50, black, convicted of killing his common-law wife and her fetus. The court found that Hooks did not receive effective counsel when, in May 1989, an Oklahoma jury convicted him of first degree murder and first degree manslaughter for for the October 6, 1988 beating to death, respectively, his common-law wife Shalimein Blaine and the 24-week-old fetus she was carrying. After a one-day sentencing hearing, Hooks was sentenced to death on the murder conviction and to 500 years' imprisonment on the manslaughter conviction. The court said Hooks' attorney at sentencing failed to thoroughly explore Hooks' background that included abuse when he was a child and a head injury in an auto accident.