USA - Pennsylvania. Judge Patrick Toole struck down Michael Bardo's death sentence

Luzerne County Senior Judge Patrick Toole struck down Michael Bardo's death sentence and said he would hold a new hearing to determine his punishment for the September 1992 killing of 3-year-old Joelle Donovan. A Luzerne County jury convicted Bardo, 42, in 1993 and sentenced him to death for killing Donovan, his niece. Bardo’s attorneys in May asked Toole to strike down his death sentence and grant a new trial, saying the attorneys who represented him at trial failed to uncover or disclose critical information to jurors.