June 20, 2013

Man whose death sentence was vacated scheduled to be released Thursday

BY: NAOMI JAGODA JANUARY 2, 2013 | 2:05 PM
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A man whose Prince William County murder-for-hire conviction was thrown out could be released from custody Thursday.

Justin Michael Wolfe had been convicted of capital murder in the 2001 slaying of his marijuana supplier and had been sentenced to death.

But the conviction and death sentence were overturned in July 2011 because prosecutors withheld information from Wolfe's lawyers and used false testimony from a key witness. Last week a federal judge ordered that Wolfe be released by Jan. 3 and not be retried.

The Associated Press reported that Prince William County Circuit Court Chief Judge Mary Grace O'Brien said Wednesday that she will release Wolfe on Thursday unless an appellate court intervenes. The Virginia attorney general's office is asking the federal appeals court in Richmond to prevent Wolfe from being released.

njagoda@washingtonexaminer.com

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Naomi Jagoda

Staff reporter
The Washington Examiner

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