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Former Death Row Inmate Faces Reinstatement Challenge

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WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A Superior Court judge is holding a hearing ordered by the Delaware Supreme Court in the case of former death row inmate Jermaine Wright.

The Supreme Court wants more information before ruling on prosecutors' request to reinstate Wright's conviction and death sentence, which Judge John Parkins Jr. overturned earlier this year.

Friday's hearing involves the failure by prosecutors to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence about an attempted liquor store robbery shortly before the liquor store killing for which Wright was convicted. Prosecutors say the non-disclosure was immaterial because defense attorneys already knew about the earlier robbery attempt.

Wright was convicted of killing store clerk Phillip Seifert in 1991. He spent more time on death row than any other Delaware inmate currently facing execution before Parkins threw out his conviction in January.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.