RICHMOND, Va. — Lawyers for former University of Colorado and Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to throw out his conviction for plotting to kill his pregnant girlfriend in 1999.
Carruth’s attorneys told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that statements and written notes by Cherica Adams after she was shot so tainted the jury that his conviction should be tossed out. A lower court ruled the statements implicating Carruth were unconstitutional, but found Carruth didn’t deserve a new trial.
Adams, 24, died weeks after she was shot four times in November 1999. Their baby survived.
Carruth was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison. His projected release date is 2018. The court typically takes several weeks to issue a ruling. The Associated Press
