The highest court in Massachusetts has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of murder more than three decades ago.
But the state Supreme Judicial Court stopped short of addressing the so-called"felony-murder rule," a former law that allowed the state to charge people involved in a crime with murder, even if they weren't the individual who did the killing.
Charged under the felony-murder law, Pope received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 1984 murder of Efrain DeJesus. The SJC changed the law in 2017, but did not make the decision retroactive. Pope's attorney, Jeffrey Harris, said he's not surprised that the high court didn't take up the felony-murder rule, but said he hopes the SJC will do so in the future. Harris said Pope is"thrilled" by the ruling and he is grateful for the court review.