MANASSAS, Va. (AP) - Defense lawyers for a former death-row inmate whose conviction was overturned are again seeking to have his retrial dismissed.
Lawyers for Justin Wolfe filed a motion late Thursday in Prince William County seeking to have the retrial on capital murder charges dismissed as a vindictive prosecution.
The defense says a key witness who recanted his testimony against Wolfe in the murder-for-hire case was told by prosecutors that he could face the death penalty if he does not go back to his original story. The motion contains details of a jailhouse discussion between prosecutors and the witness, Owen Barber, who avoided the death penalty by testifying against Wolfe back in 2001.
Wolfe spent roughly a decade on death row before his conviction was overturned on accusations of prosecutorial misconduct.