Man Convicted of 2nd-Degree Murder in Retrial

A former Los Angeles truck driver, who received a new trial after his first-degree murder conviction was overturned, was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder in the 1988 shooting of an acquaintance.

Luther Austin Edmonson, 44, faces a maximum sentence of 17 years to life, including two years for the use of a firearm.

Edmonson was convicted in 1989 of first-degree murder for shooting Eddie Jerome Greene, 55, also of Los Angeles, whose body was dumped in a roadside ditch in San Juan Capistrano.

However, the 4th District Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in 1990 on the grounds that the trial judge erred in not granting Edmonson more time to prepare to argue his own case after he discharged his attorney.

Edmonson testified in his second trial that Greene abducted him at gunpoint. He said he seized the gun from Greene and shot him several times before fleeing. After trying to phone for assistance, Edmonson said he returned to the car and, when Greene’s body fell against him, he shot him two more times.