Ralph Daniel Wright Jr., the former MacDill sergeant who was convicted of murdering his lover and their 15-month-old child in 2007, is now having his sentences vacated.
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The Florida Supreme Court concluded "that the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to sustain the convictions" and said they "reverse Wright's convictions and vacate his sentences."
The court went on to say:
The evidence presented in this purely circumstantial case does not establish 'a reasonable and moral certainty that the accused and no one else committed the offense{s} charged.'
Although the facts established at trial support a strong suspicion of guilt, they are not inconsistent with innocence. We therefore conclude that the evidence is insufficient to sustain Wright's convictions. Accordingly, we reverse the convictions, vacate the sentences of death, and remand with directions to enter judgments of acquittal.
Wright was facing two death sentences.
According to Nat Kidder, one of the attorneys who handled the initial criminal case, next the state will have 15 days to file for a rehearing, which the supreme court would accept or deny.
After that, the Pinellas Circuit Court has to vacate the conviction before he can be released.
Wright is currently at Florida State Prison.
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