On Death Row for a Murder Her Son Admitted To, Michelle Byrom Will Finally Get a New Trial
After about a decade and a half in prison for a crime she may not have committed, Mississippi death row inmate Michelle Byrom, 56, will have another chance in court. On Monday, the Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously reversed Byrom's capital muder conviction and ordered a new trial with a new judge take place.
Byrom was convicted of murder in after her son, Edward Byrom Jr., testified in court that she'd hired a hit man to kill her husband (and his dad), Edward Sr. The judge, Thomas Gardner, sentenced Michelle to death.
But ample mitigating evidence—including years of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of Edward Sr.—was never admitted into the courtroom. Neither was the repeated confessing from Edward Jr. to killing his father himself.
From the Jackson Free Press:
Edward Byrom Jr. confessed to murdering his father, Edward Byrom Sr., on June 4, , in a letter to his mother … One of at least four known confessions—there are two additional letters and a statement to his court-appointed psychologist—it might have been evidence to convict "Junior" for murd
Miss. death row inmate's murder conviction reversed
Jerry Mitchell | The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger
JACKSON, Miss. — Four days after Mississippi sought to execute Michelle Byrom, the state Supreme Court tossed her capital murder conviction and ordered a new trial.
"I'm just overjoyed the court ruled so quickly after not setting the execution date to remedy a great injustice," said attorney David Voisin, a consultant for the defense team.
Defense lawyers were in the process of sharing the news with Byrom, 57, who has been on death row for 14 years.
"We are pleased that Ms. Byrom will now have the opportunity to present the overwhelming evidence that she is innocent of murder-for-hire," the defense said in a statement.
Paul Howell, chief investigator for the Tishomingo County, Miss., district attorney's office that handled the prosecution, said they plan to read over the order and take the appropriate action. "We respect the court's decision," he said. "We'll do whatever they ask us to do."
Monday's decision to reverse the case came after The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger and others drew attention to the fact that Byrom's son, Edward Byrom Jr., had
The Mississippi State Supreme Court handed down two big decisions in death penalty cases. The court refused to set an execution date for Charles Ray Crawford (left) and overturned the murder conviction of Michelle Byrom (right) and ordered a new trial with a new judge.
JACKSON &#; Michelle Byrom, 57, has been on death row awaiting execution for the past 14 years. By Monday, March 31, she had nearly exhausted her options. Then, in a surprising decision, the nine justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled to reverse her sentence of death. Byrom, 57, has been on death row awaiting execution for the past 14 years.
In the court's unanimous decision, Justice Josiah Coleman wrote: "The relief afforded herein is extraordinary and extremely rare in the context of a petition for leave to pursue post-conviction relief."
The court also ordered a new trial with a new judge.
"This is an astonishing result—wonderful, delightful, so happy about it," said Warren Yoder, executive director of the Public Policy Center of Mississippi, who had volunteered to publicize the case.
Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz, who heard Byrom's previous appeals during his tenure
Michelle Byrom, who spent 14 years as one of two women on Mississippi’s death row, died earlier this year in Madison, Tennessee.
Byrom, who had been in and out of hospital and hospice care in recent months, died at home on Jan. 25, a family friend confirmed this week. She was
A Tishomingo County jury found Byrom guilty of capital murder in , and a judge sentenced her to death. Byrom then spent almost a decade and a half in the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl. She had nearly exhausted her appeals before the state supreme court threw out her conviction in after Byrom&#;s legal team pointed to incompetent defense during her trial and exculpatory evidence that jurors never saw.
&#;She was a very strong woman to face the challenges that she did,&#; said Oliver Diaz, a former state supreme court justice who had called for Byrom&#;s conviction to be vacated. &#;I am happy that she was able to overcome her time on death row and live out the last few years as a free woman.&#;
Diaz added: &#;I think that the justice system took many good years away from her and she had every right to be bitter about that. She was not.&#;
Byrom&#;s case drew national att
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