The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court says a man who killed a Myrtle Beach police officer in 2002 should get a new trial because a jury was not allowed to consider a lesser charge.
Luzenski Allen Cottrell was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for shooting officer Joe McGarry in the head outside a Dunkin’ Donuts. Cottrell admitted to the killing.
Justice Costa Pleicones wrote in the opinion issued Monday that jurors should have been allowed to consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Pleicones says the trial judge was wrong in not letting jurors consider that charge because the officer may have been overly aggressive in restraining Cottrell.
Chief Justice Jean Toal disagreed in a dissenting opinion.