MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama death row inmate is the second condemned prisoner in two weeks to be freed after problems with witnesses or evidence in the cases that led to their convictions.
William Ziegler accepted a plea bargain Thursday in Mobile.
Al.com (http://bit.ly/1FPh5P0 ) reported that the 39-year-old man could be free within hours.
Ziegler was convicted of capital murder in 2001 and sentenced to die for the slaying of Russell Allen Baker.
A judge overturned Ziegler's conviction in 2012, indicating there were numerous errors and serious doubt about his guilt.
Prosecutors planned to try him again. But Ziegler pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting murder to resolve the case.
The decision comes less than two weeks after another condemned Alabama prisoner was freed after claiming he was innocent.
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