ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orlando man ordered to spend 30 years in prison for attempted murder might soon walk free.
A judge overturned the conviction of Anthony Jackson and granted him a new trial.
Anthony Jackson was convicted of shooting a cab driver in the face execution style in what police said was a robbery.
The conviction was overturned due to ineffective counsel, according to the court order.
“I thought I would get up shouting and dancing and run around the courtroom but I could not move. Took me days to digest it,” said Jackson’s mother, Dana Jackson.
Anthony Jackson’s public defender, Shana Manual, admitted fault for, “pursuing a clearly unwinnable theory of insanity and self-defense at the same time,” among other failures.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said a lawyer’s conduct has to be extremely poor to reverse a conviction.
“This is very rare,” Sheaffer said. “There was no doubt in my mind that the lawyer’s performance in this trial was deficient.”
State attorney Jeff Ashton filed an appeal to reinstate the conviction.
Meanwhile, Anthony Jackson was denied bond.
"That's kind of heartbreaking because I'm thinking this same judge just vacated the sentence," Dana Jackson said.
The lawyer who originally handled Jackson’s case has since left the public defender’s office.
WFTV
