Maharaj retrial fight goes on after death row reprieve

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer pro bono client and British citizen Krishna Maharaj has been spared the death sentence after being on death row in Florida for 15 years. However, Maharaj's supporters have condemned the decision to resentence him to life imprisonment, as they say he is innocent.
Freshfields will now support Maharaj's US lawyer Clive Stafford Smith in calling for a retrial.
Maharaj was convicted of double murder 15 years ago. There are doubts about the way in which the case was handled, not least because seven alibi witnesses who were able to testify that Maharaj was 25 miles away at the time of the killings, were not called.
Reprieve, an organisation which campaigns against the death penalty, is concerned that the UK Government and public will now lose interest in the campaign. "The argument for a retrial is stronger now. This shows there is doubt about his guilt. The argument for Maharaj has always been over his innocence, not just whether he should be on death row," said Reprieve's UK director Andie Lambe.