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California court requires lawyers in murder case challenges

Prisoners will now have the right to court-appointed attorneys in order to help them when they face initial court hearings.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2020, file photo, the Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. The state of California has agreed to pay more than $2 million in legal fees in a settlement with churches that challenged coronavirus closure orders. Church lawyers who successfully took their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday, June 2, 2021, that the state agreed not to impose restrictions on houses of worship that are greater than those on retail businesses. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

SAN FRANCISCO, California — California's Supreme Court says prisoners are entitled to a lawyer when they challenge their murder convictions for killings that others committed.

The court on Monday ruled that prisoners have the right to court-appointed attorneys to help them when they face initial court hearings that will determine whether their challenges can proceed.

The San Francisco Chronicle says more than 300 such challenges have been dismissed. The challenges are based on a 2019 law that restricted who can face a murder conviction for a deadly crime to those who were directly involved in the killing or showed “reckless indifference to human life."

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