MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama appeals court has overturned the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a school teacher in 2011.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday reversed the death sentence that 29-year-old Jovon Dwayne Gaston received for his capital murder conviction in the killing of Calhoun County teacher Kevin Thompson.
Another man also was sentenced to death in the slaying, and a third man awaits trial.
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The court refused to overturn Gaston’s conviction. But it says he deserves another sentencing hearing because a judge failed to tell jurors how to weigh the testimony of relatives who were affected by Thompson’s slaying.
A jury voted 10-2 to recommend death for Gaston, and the judge imposed the capital sentence.
The case now goes back to Calhoun County.
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