Reversal Sought In Death Row Inmate Case

{Kentucky}...Kentucky death row inmate, 62 year old David Eugene Matthews, may soon be released after spending nearly three decades behind bars. Kentucky prosecutors are asking the full U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a three-judge panel's decision to order a new trial for Matthews on burglary charges or release him. A three-judge panel ruled that a judge misinterpreted Kentucky's law on extreme emotional disturbance and ordered Matthews retried or released. The panel also ruled that Matthews cannot be retried for the June 1981 murders of his estranged wife, Mary "Marlene" Matthews, and mother-in-law, Magdalene Cruse, in Louisville, because of the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Krygiel, in a motion for rehearing, said the ruling was flawed and could impact the federal appeals of Randy Haight and Leif Halvorsen, two other inmates who have been fighting execution for decades. Krygiel says letting the Matthews decision stand could result in those inmates winning their federal appeals, if convicted of the remaining burglary charges, Matthews would likely be sentenced to time served, and case has the potential to allow an obviously guilty double-murderer to be released.