NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The last of the “Angola Three” inmates, Albert Woodfox, who’s spent decades in solitary confinement, is now expected to stay behind bars until at least the end of the summer while he faces the possibility of a third trial in the 1972 slaying of a prison guard.
An appeals panel ruled Friday that Woodfox must stay in jail until it hears arguments in late August on Louisiana’s push to retry him in the death of Louisiana State Penitentiary prison guard Brent Miller.
The decision marked a sharp reversal for Woodfox: On Monday, a lower-court judge ordered his “immediate” release, and took the extraordinary step of barring a third trial for the 68-year-old inmate. U.S. District Judge James Brady said there was no way the state could give him a fair trial.
Lawyers broke the news to Woodfox, who is being held at the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center, as reporters and family members of the slain guard gathered outside.
“He was stoic and remains hopeful,” said George Kendall, one of Woodfox’s lawyers, in an email to The Associated Press.