Man Convicted in Fatal Stabbing Freed After Attorneys Appeal Case

A man convicted of a murder he said he did not commit has been released from prison after his public defender successfully appealed the verdict.

Brendell Levi, 33, was released Friday from Pelican Bay state prison on the condition he attend the Delancey Street rehabilitation program in San Francisco.

“I think he really feels that he’s lucky to have this opportunity,” said one of his lawyers, Freda Perel. “He feels vindicated.”

Levi was convicted of fatally stabbing Terry Tisinger during a 1988 robbery.

In the appeal, state Public Defender Kathleen Scheidel argued that the murder conviction should be set aside because Levi’s trial lawyer was incompetent. Scheidel also argued that prosecutors withheld information that could have exonerated Levi.

Levi’s 1988 conviction was based mostly on the testimony of an inmate who claimed he overheard Levi confess to the killing during a conversation with another inmate.

Scheidel also suggested that the informant’s testimony helped him get released after being arrested on suspicion of killing his girlfriend.

Prosecutors are required to tell defense attorneys of such deals.

Prosecutor Jack Quatman said he didn’t know that the informant was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The Alameda County district attorney’s office is expected to decide soon whether to seek a new trial.