In a state Supreme Court opinion issued on Monday, a new trial has been issued for 42 year-old Michelle Byrom. Byrom is currently on death row after getting a conviction in 2000 for planning the murder of her allegedly abusive husband. CNN said her own son admitted to committing the crime in several jailhouse letters and an admission to a court-appointed psychologist, but recanted when he was put to the stand, court records showed. The Supreme Court reasoned that extraordinary and extremely rare decision was to address a petition for leave for Byrom to pursue a relief post-conviction. In addition, the Supreme Court also said that a new judge should be installed for Byrom's new trial.
Byrom's attorney David Calder had said, "We are very grateful that the Mississippi Supreme Court has granted Michelle Byrom's request for relief from her death sentence. This was a team effort on the part of the attorneys currently representing Michelle, and we believe that the court reached a just and fair result under the facts presented in this case."
During her initial trial, prosecutors said that Byrom planned to kill her husband. Her son, Byrom Jr, later admitted to fatally shooting her father in his home in Iuka, Mississippi in 1999. CNN said that Michelle, at that time, was receiving treatment at a hospital for double pneumonia. The jury's conviction was reportedly based on evidence and testimony given at the trial that she had plotted her husband's murder.
When Byron Jr recanted his earlier admission to the crime, his mother waived her right to a jury sentencing upon her attorney's advice, which left the judge to make the decision. Circuit Judge Thomas Gardner deemed her guilty and ordered her death. CNN said Attorney General Jim Hood had already filed for Michelle's execution to happen on or before March 27 prior to the Supreme Court opinion.
