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CALIFORNIA NEWS
US magistrate says prisoner, 72, should be freed
Posted: Mar 9, 2013 12:58 PM by ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal magistrate has ruled that a California prisoner serving life without parole for a triple murder should be freed because his lawyer provided in incompetent representation at his trial.
The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/15EnKf3 ) reports U.S. Magistrate Michael Seng ruled this week that 72-year-old George Souliotes should be released because his lawyer failed to adequately defend him in a "fundamentally unfair" trial.
The Greek immigrant has been in prison for 16 years for the killings of a mother and two children who died when a fire erupted in a Modesto house he owned in 1997.
Souliotes' lawyers filed a motion Friday asking the magistrate to release him immediately, citing the prisoner's poor health.
But Deputy Attorney General Kathleen McKenna says she disagrees with the magistrate's findings and plans to object.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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