Georgia Court Overturns Man’s Murder Conviction

ATLANTA (CN) - The Georgia Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction of Romell Renath Webb because police continued to question Webb after his invoked his Miranda rights.

"Any exercise of this right to silence must be scrupulously honored," Justice Melton wrote.

Instead, the detective pressured Webb into signing a paper waiving those rights, and then listened to Webb's statement of what happened that night.

Webb was found guilty of stabbing James McMurtry to death during a dispute the two men had while watching television and drinking rum.

In another trial error, Webb's wife was not informed that she did not have to testify against her husband. Questioned at trial against her will, Webb's wife said she came downstairs after the struggle and heard her husband say that he "overreacted."

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