27 February 2019 :

James Hardy was freed after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in exchange for a suspended sentence and release on probation. Hardy, now 63, White, was arrested in May 1981 for participating in the brutal murders of Nancy Morgan and her son Mitchell. He was sentenced to death by a Los Angeles jury on Sept. 26, 1983, and by a judge in 1984. Hardy was tried along with two co-defendants, Mark Reilly and Clifford Morgan, the husband and father of the victims. Clifford was convicted of hiring Reilly and Hardy to kill his family so he could collect insurance money. Prosecutors argued that Hardy was the actual killer and Reilly the middleman in the conspiracy. On appeal, Hardy argued that his trial attorney had been ineffective because he had failed to investigate or present evidence that the prosecution’s key witness was actually the killer. On JULY 26, 2007 (see) the California Supreme Court overturned Hardy’s death sentence, which was later ri-determined in a life without parole sentence. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit later (August 11, 2016) overturned his conviction, writing, “Hardy’s attorney failed him, and the State of California failed Hardy by putting a man on the stand that it should have known committed the crime.” The court said, “there is a substantial likelihood that the jury would not have convicted Hardy had his trial lawyer performed effectively.” Rather than retry Hardy, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office agreed to a plea deal. The deal makes him ineligible for DPIC’s Innocence List.