Texas Court throws out conviction of man who has been on death row for 11 years,

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the conviction of a man who has been on death row for 11 years, ruling Wednesday that the prosecution had withheld important evidence. 

The man, Richard D. Newton, was convicted of the kidnapping and killing in 1999 of Jesus Montoya, 20. 

Key to the conviction was the testimony of a second defendant, Julian Paul Williams, who was given a 10-year sentence. But last year, Dallas County authorities discovered a police questionnaire that Mr. Williams had filled out but that had never been turned over to the defense. In it, Mr. Williams asserted that he knew nothing of the killing, though he changed his story on the witness stand. 

Prosecutors must now decide whether to retry Mr. Newton.

Source: NYT, November 18, 2010