VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) — Georgia's Supreme court made the rare decision Monday morning to overturn the murder conviction in the case of Michael Pindling.
Lowndes County courts sentenced Pindling to life without the possibility of parole after the 2013 murder of 22-year-old Robert Pett.
Pindling and his lawyers appealed, claiming that critical testimony came from a witness who helped commit the crime and therefore, could have had questionable motives.
"Today's opinion shows that ... the Georgia law contemplates motives for accomplice witnesses to testify falsely, to not tell the truth. And, for that reason, it provides extra protections to defendants," said Pindling's criminal defense attorney Kyle Winchester.
Because of those protections, Pindling will now return to the Lowndes County jail where a judge will consider the possibility of bond and set the date for a new trial.
