A sixteen year old's murder conviction has been overturned in Nevada after he has served fifteen years. He pleaded guilty upon advice of his lawyer who had told him that if he did not, a jury would sentence him to death because he was black and the victim was white.

Jimmie Davis was 16 when he was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1988. In its ruling Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said there was "almost no possibility" that a jury would have imposed a death sentence, given his age and the background of the case.

The court said Davis' counsel "failed to conduct a meaningful investigation" before recommending the guilty plea. "Perhaps most egregiously, it appears from the record that defense counsel may not have been aware that Davis was only 16 years old at the time of the offense," the court said.

Davis, 31, of North Las Vegas, has said he accidentally shot Brittain Gelabert with the stolen .38-caliber revolver she was trying to sell him for $100.....The attorney general's office had argued against his appeal and in support of the conviction, saying that even if the shooting was accidental it could be considered murder under state law.

Now the D.A. will decide whether to retry Davis. We think 15 years is enough and hopes the DA decides against it.