29 August 2010 :

U.S. District Court Judge Sam Cummings overturned Michael Yowell's 1999 death sentence, citing ineffective assistance of trial counsel and error by the trial court. Yowell, 40, will receive a new punishment hearing in the 140th District Court if the ruling by Judge Cummings is not appealed or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit denies the appeal. Cummings ruled Yowell's trial attorney did not adequately defend him during the punishment phase of the 1999 trial and that 140th State District Judge Jim Bob Darnell violated Yowell's constitutional rights by not allowing testimony about Yowell's mental problems, nor his extensive history of physical, sexual and substance abuse, testimony that could have persuaded jurors to spare his life. A Lubbock County jury convicted Yowell and sentenced him to death in 1999 for killing both his parents in May of 1998. If a new trial for Yowell is not set, Cummings ordered the trial court to impose a life sentence within 180 days from the date of his order.