Prosecutors, defense win freedom for man in 1983 killing

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man who spent nearly four decades behind bars for a 1983 killing has won his freedom after New Orleans prosecutors joined defense lawyers in asking to have his conviction overturned. Attorneys on both sides said evidence of inconsistencies in the only eyewitness’s testimony was kept from the jury that convicted Raymond Flanks. Their joint motion to vacate his conviction was approved Thursday morning. Flanks was convicted in the December 1983 shooting death of Martin Carnesi during an armed robbery. Carnesi’s wife had identified Flanks as the killer. But her descriptions differed at trial from her earlier statements.