Justices rule for death row inmate after legal mistakes

Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court gave an Alabama death row prisoner another chance Wednesday to appeal his conviction after a mailroom mistake and other circumstances initially left him unable to pursue further claims in court.

At issue was whether a missed deadline to file a key appeal provided justification to grant Cory Maples a second chance, when the error was not the inmate's fault and the result would mean a punishment as serious as lethal injection.

The justices' 7-2 ruling was a setback for the state, and the inmate's case now goes back to lower courts.

"The uncommon combination of mishaps in Maples' case, we hold, provide just cause to excuse the procedural lapse in state court," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority.

The compounding series of errors and negligence involved both state officials and the private attorneys once representing him.

The prisoner's new legal team, supported by some civil rights groups, argued the criminal justice system was being turned on its head by potentially allowing prisoners to suffer the consequences of their lawyers' mistakes or incompetence.

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Source: CNN, January 18, 2012

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