TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida man is getting a new trial more than four decades after being convicted of murder.
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a lower court’s order of a new trial for Jacob Dougan, who was convicted in 1975 of a Jacksonville murder. Police believe the murder was racially motivated, since the victim was white and a note was left near his body saying the brutalization of black people would no longer go unpunished.
The lower court had vacated Dougan’s death sentence.
The state’s highest court agreed that the trial had multiple problems, including false testimony of the prosecution’s only eyewitness, who lied during testimony about his plea deal with prosecutors.
The Florida Supreme Court also agreed that Dougan’s attorney had conflicts of interest that affected his performance at trial.
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