Judge ends solitary confinement for inmate pending retrial

(AP) – A Delaware judge has ordered that an accused killer whose conviction and death sentence were overturned in January be released from solitary confinement pending a retrial.

The judge granted Isaiah McCoy’s request for a transfer into the general prison population after holding a hearing last week.
    
The judge noted that McCoy has spent more than five years in solitary confinement, although during much of that time he was presumed innocent, either awaiting trial or after his conviction was overturned. He also noted that solitary confinement impedes McCoy’s ability to meet with his lawyers.
    
McCoy was convicted of the 2010 drug-related killing of 30-year-old James Mumford in Dover.
    
The Delaware Supreme Court said McCoy is entitled to a new trial because of errors by the judge and prosecutor at his trial.