U.S. APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS INMATE'S DRUG CONVICTION

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the drug conviction of a
Lorton inmate yesterday, ruling that his first lawyer did such a bad job
that he deserves a new trial.

In 1998, Richard Deon Russell was convicted in Alexandria federal court of
possessing heroin in prison. During the trial, Russell took the stand in
his own defense, and prosecutors told the jury that his words should not be
trusted because he had three previous felony convictions. However, Russell
told his lawyer that two of those convictions had been overturned, so that
he had only one conviction on his record.

The appeals court panel ruled yesterday that Russell's lawyer should have
investigated Russell's claim--later proven to be true--rather than simply
accepting the government's assertions. The 2 to 1 decision was extremely
unusual because it is very difficult to prove that a lawyer was ineffective
and because most 4th Circuit judges are very skeptical of prisoners' claims.