Inmate wins 'sleeping lawyer' ruling

Calvin Burdine came within minutes of execution

A Texan prisoner who was facing a death sentence after his lawyer slept through parts of his murder trial has won a reprieve from the US Supreme Court.

America's top court refused to intervene in the case, upholding an appeals court ruling that Calvin Burdine deserved a new trial.

The state of Texas had argued that the sleepy lawyer did not deny the accused a fair trial.

'Ten-minute naps'

The move means that Texas must now decide whether to retry Mr Burdine for the 1983 killing of his gay partner, or set him free.

Jurors and court officials agreed that Mr Burdine's lawyer, Joe Cannon, dozed off up to 10 times for as long as 10 minutes each during the trial and sentencing hearing.

After a series of legal battles, August 2001 saw the appeals court ruling in favour of a retrial for Mr Burdine.

That decision overturned a lower court ruling that upheld the conviction and death sentence because, the court said, Mr Cannon's naps only took place during unimportant parts of the trial.

Confession

Mr Burdine was convicted in 1984 of stabbing WT Wise to death at the Houston trailer they shared.

He initially confessed to police, but now claims another person actually killed Mr Wise.

In 1987, Mr Burdine came within minutes of being executed before a court-ordered reprieve.

Texas executes more people each year than any other American state.