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| Former Death Row Inmate Gets Second Chance |
| By WPLG |
| Published: 03/04/2003 |
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An inmate convicted of murdering a Hollywood man was back in a South Florida courtroom Tuesday after his death sentence was overturned. A status hearing was held for Lawrence Lewis. Lewis spent 14 years on death row for beating a man named Michael Gordon to death with a tire iron in 1988. The Florida Supreme Court ruled Lewis had ineffective legal representation during his trial, and ordered him taken off death row -- at least until he's re-sentenced. Report: Nine Inmates Died Over New Year's at Japan's Scandal-Rocked Prisons arch Associated Press Amid recent allegations of torture at a western Japanese prison, local media reported Tuesday that nine inmates had died over the New Year period while in detention. Seven died of illness and two choked to death on food between Dec. 28 and Jan. 5, Kyodo news agency said, citing Justice Ministry officials it didn't identify by name. The Justice Ministry refused to identify any of the victims or give details of the illnesses, it said. The deaths occurred at detention centers in five cities across the country, including Tokyo and Osaka, Kyodo said. Justice Ministry were not available for comment late Tuesday. None of the victims died at the notorious Nagoya Prison, which has come under fire following claims that workers there tortured inmates. Five prison officials were arrested in November after one inmate died and another was hospitalized, and are awaiting trial. The Justice Ministry has come under pressure to make Japan's murky prison practices more transparent. The scandal revived long-held concerns that prisoners are routinely mistreated and that the judicial system is guilty of human rights abuses. Experts say the flaws in Japan's judicial system have worsened in recent years as authorities have handed down longer sentences and harsher punishments to deal with rising crime. Experts attribute the increase to financial difficulties and social discontent after more than a decade of economic woes. The Justice Ministry announced in November that crime in Japan rose to a post-World War II high last year and the arrest rate fell to a record low. Meanwhile, the country's 189 penitentiaries are filled past capacity as the number of new inmates have increased in recent years. |
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