A Pennsylvania inmate from Philadelphia who was days away from being executed in 1995 has been awarded a new trial because of ineffective counsel. Florencio Rolan spent 19 years on death row before a state appeals court awarded him a new sentencing hearing on the ineffective counsel claim in 2003. His sentence was then reduced to life in prison.

In the original trial, lawyer Melvin Goldstein put on no defense, prompting Rolan to call out in open court, "Yes, I have two other witnesses who are willing to come and testify," according to court records.

His lawyers continued to appeal his conviction, winning a new trial in 2004 that prosecutors appealed. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit agreed Tuesday that the conviction was flawed.

Prosecutors argued at the time that Rolan killed Paulino Santiago in 1983 in the city's Spring Garden section in a robbery over $5 in drug money. Rolan later said he shot Santiago in self-defense. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office believes Rolan is guilty but has not decided whether to retry the case, spokeswoman Cathie Abookire said.