Bodybuilder to Get New Trial
By: Rick Bundrett, The State (Columbia, SC), January 21, 2009
A Richland County bodybuilder convicted in 2002 of murdering his bodybuilder friend will get a new trial.
The state Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling granting a new trial to Eric Rife, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence.
"It's been a long appellate process, but he's always believed in his innocence, and he's looking forward to a new trial," said Rife's appellate attorney, Dick Harpootlian of Columbia.
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In granting Rife a new trial in 2007, 5th Circuit Judge Casey Manning said Rife's trial lawyer should have objected to a jury instruction given by the prosecutor.
Rife, who is serving his sentence at a state prison on Broad River Road, will be transferred to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, pending his new trial, Harpootlian said.
Contact The State archives, http://www.thestate.com/, for the full article.
