Murder Verdict in Shooting of Fetus Renewed
The state Court of Appeal has reinstated the second-degree murder and attempted murder conviction of a former sheriff’s deputy who shot to death a pregnant woman’s fetus in 1982, prosecutors said today.
Robert Armstrong, now 32, was convicted by jurors of the murder charge in June, 1983, but a month later, Superior Court Judge William Keene reduced the crime to involuntary manslaughter. Keene also dismissed the jury’s finding of the attempted murder of the woman herself, Delois Young.
Keene then sentenced Armstrong to one year behind bars, instead of the prescribed term of 15-years-to-life in prison for second-degree murder.
Armstrong served less than eight months of his sentence and was released in February, 1984.
The appeal court reinstated the murder and attempted murder conviction at the request of the District Attorney’s Office.
Office spokesman Al Albergate said it was not immediately clear if Armstrong would be resentenced to the 15-years-to-life prison term.
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