Idaho County to retry Mark Lankford for 1983 murders
LEWISTON, Idaho — (AP) — Prosecutors in northern Idaho say they will retry a man after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled he’s entitled to a new trial following a murder conviction.
Idaho County Prosecutor Kirk MacGregor tells the Lewiston Tribune in a story on Saturday that his office is ready to retry Mark Lankford.
Mark Lankford and his younger brother, Bryan Lankford, were convicted of the 1983 beating deaths of a couple from El Paso, Texas.
Mark Lankford was granted a new trial in 2007 due to a jury instruction error from the 1984 trial.
An Idaho County jury in 2008 convicted Mark Lankford of two counts of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole.
But the Idaho Supreme Court ruled prosecutors violated his constitutional rights to a fair trial in the second trial.
A trial date hasn’t been set.
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