NEW ORLEANS (AP) — John Floyd was freed last year after spending 36 years locked up for a New Orleans murder he insisted he didn’t commit.
A federal appeals court this month upheld a U.S. District judge’s decision to order a new trial for Floyd, who said a detective coerced him to confess to the 1980 slaying.
But Floyd’s legal battle is not over. Nobody is claiming he’s a danger and prosecutors have not objected to his release pending appeal. But New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said the decision that led to Floyd’s freedom still needs to be overturned.
He said the federal judge in Floyd’s case should not be allowed to overrule the state trial judge some 35 years later.