The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the right to a new trial for a Lincoln man convicted of attempted murder and other charges for shooting and wounding another man during a fight in a store parking lot.
Earlier this year, the Nebraska Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for 39-year-old William Smith. Smith was found guilty in 2010 of attempted murder, first-degree assault and a weapons count for shooting LeMarcus Gaskins after the two fought in a Lincoln parking lot in 2008. Smith was later sentenced to up to 55 years in prison.
Smith has maintained that he shot Gaskins in self-defense, and that the jury in his trial should have been instructed on the lesser offense of attempted "sudden quarrel" manslaughter.
On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed.
