16 March 2010 :

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned the death penalty conviction of Thomas Robert Lane, 45, white, who was found guilty of drowning his estranged mail-order bride from the Philippines, Theresa Lane, 31, in 2003. Lane was in the midst of divorcing Theresa Lane and had planned to marry another Filipino woman he'd met on the Internet, according to court records. A jury found Lane guilty of capital murder in 2006 and recommended life in prison without parole. Mobile County Circuit Judge Joseph "Rusty" Johnston instead sentenced Lane to death (see April 27, 2006). Today the appeals court ruled that Lane's defense attorney was unjustly removed from the case before the trial began, in violation of Lane's constitutional right to legal representation. Johnston removed Lane's attorney, Buzz Jordan, and appointed another attorney after prosecutors argued in a pre-trial hearing that Jordan had to be called as a witness, according to court records. The appeals court, though, ruled that Jordan did not need to take the witness stand after all and should not have been removed. Prosecutors had argued that Jordan was needed to testify about a cash payment he received from Lane on the day of the murder as a retainer for his legal services, according to the ruling. About $3,600 had been reported missing from the Irvington house where Theresa Lane was found dead, prosecutors argued, and at the time of the murder, Thomas Lane had a negative balance in his checking account. But at trial, prosecutors changed positions and stated that Lane's payment was made the day after the murder. That fact was proved by a receipt from Jordan's law office, the appeals court said, and didn't require Jordan's testimony.