Appeals court rejects new trial for Black Panther

June 21, 2010

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- ­ A federal appeals court has
reversed a lower court's decision to grant a new
trial to a former member of the Black Panther
Party who was convicted of murdering a Louisiana
prison guard.

U.S. District Judge James Brady had ruled in 2008
that Albert Woodfox's defense counsel in his
retrial was ineffective. He ordered the state to
try him for a third time or drop the case.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday
reversed that order.

Woodfox, a member of the so-called Angola 3, has
been convicted twice of fatally stabbing the
Louisiana State Penitentiary guard in 1972.

The appeals court said Brady erred in concluding
that Woodfox had ineffective counsel in his second trial.