USA - Pennsylvania. The state Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for Melvin Knight

The state Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for Melvin Knight, 27, Black, a member of the so-called “Greensburg 6”. The justices say an error forced them to vacate the sentence of Knight. The error involved a failure to instruct the jury that Knight’s lack of a criminal record should be considered a mitigating factor against the death penalty. He pleaded guilty in the 2010 in connection with the murder and torture of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, a woman with mental disabilities. Daugherty, who had the intellectual capacity of a 14-year-old, was targeted for abuse by the group after she made sexual advances toward the boyfriend of one of the group's female members. Over 2 days the woman was raped, tortured and finally killed. A new Westmoreland County jury will now be chosen to again consider whether Knight should be executed. The other suspects in the case are also in jail. Ricky Smyrnes also received the death penalty in the case. Angela Marinucci was sentenced to life without parole in May of 2011. She was 17 at the time of the crime and is therefore ineligible for the death penalty. The others – Amber Meidinger, Robert Masters and Peggy Miller – are all serving prison terms of at least 30 years.