HUGHES CHRONOLOGY

Aug. 31, 1976--Serita Ann Hughes, 27, a registered nurse, is found dead outside her Milford, Del., home on the eighth anniversary of her marriage to Robert D. Hughes, 28, an eighth-grade math teacher.

Sept. 1, 1976--Robert Hughes is arrested on a charge of first-degree murder of his wife.

Sept. 8, 1976--Hughes is released when the state attorney general’s office drops the charge, citing lack of evidence.

June, 1977--Hughes and his two sons, Chad and Brock, move to Thousand Oaks, where Hughes starts teaching at Ascension Evangelical Lutheran School.

June, 1978--A Delaware state policeman, attending a lie-detector training program in Chicago, is mistakenly shown a lie-detector test that Hughes purportedly failed. The incident revives the case.

Dec. 4, 1978--A Delaware grand jury indicts Hughes for first-degree murder. Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrest Hughes at the Ascension school.

Feb. 11, 1980--After about seven hours of deliberation, a Dover, Del., jury find Hughes guilty of first-degree murder. He is sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole and is sent to Delaware Correctional Center in Smyrna.

Summer and fall, 1980--Hughes’ supporters in Thousand Oaks raise funds to hire former Senate Watergate Committee counsel Sam Dash to argue the appeal before the Delaware Supreme Court.

June 23, 1981--The state Supreme Court overturns Hughes’ conviction, saying prosecutors made “prejudicial” and “erroneous” statements to jurors.

Nov. 25, 1981--After unsuccessful prosecution efforts to convince the Delaware Supreme Court to reconsider the decision, Hughes is released on $150,000 bail. He is welcomed by a crowd of joyous supporters at Los Angeles International Airport.

July 21, 1982--After four hours of deliberation, another jury finds Hughes guilty of first-degree murder. He again is given a life sentence and is remanded to the Smyrna prison.

Sept. 7, 1982--Defense attorneys file a motion for a new trial with the Delaware Supreme Court, citing testimony from a juror who said the jury had been aware of Hughes’ first conviction and the possibility that Hughes had failed a lie-detector test.

Feb. 25, 1985--After a series of hearings and appeals, the Delaware Supreme Court overturns Hughes’ second conviction and orders a third trial.

April, 17, 1985--Hughes is released from prison on $100,000 bail.

April 24, 1985--Hughes, now 37, returns to Thousand Oaks.