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Jul 10, 2008 12:59 pm US/Central
No Ruling On Retrial Wrongful Convict Alton Logan
Logan Was Imprisoned 26 Years For A Murder To Which Another Man Confessed
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
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Alton Logan has spent the last 26 years in jail on a murder conviction that's now being called into question.
60 Minutes
Alton Logan -- imprisoned 26 years for a murder another man had confessed to -- will have to wait a little longer to find out if prosecutors plan to retry him for the crime.
In April, Judge James Schreier vacated Logan's conviction and ordered that he get a new trial. Since then, the Illinois Attorney General's office has been weighing whether to retry him. Logan is free on $10,000 bond.
The attorney general's office was scheduled to make its decision known Thursday. But Richard Schwind, chief of the criminal enforcement division, told Schreier the office would postpone the decision until Aug. 12, Logan's next court date.
"We would like the state to make a decision," said Susan Smith, an assistant public defender representing Logan. "He is having problems right now getting a job because this case is hanging over his head."
Logan said he was frustrated prosecutors postponed their decision. But, he added, "I wasn't expecting it to be over. Right now I don't know which way it's going to go -- I'm not getting my hopes up," Logan said.
Logan was convicted of killing a security guard while robbing a McDonald's in 1982. Earlier this year, lawyers Jamie Kunz and Dale Coventry revealed their client, convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson, admitted to them he had killed the guard.
The lawyers said they were bound by attorney-client privilege to keep Wilson's secret. Wilson died last November, freeing them to talk.
In court Thursday, Schwind said prosecutors were still interviewing witnesses. He gave defense lawyers a five-page report summarizing talks with witnesses in downstate Collinsville and the St. Louis area.
He said prosecutors are continuing to look for witnesses.
Smith, meanwhile, said Logan's lawyers were ready to go to trial.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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