As of Thursday, Tyler Edmonds will have another chance at receiving compensation for being wrongfully imprisoned.
In 2004, at the age of 13, Edmonds was found guilty in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court for helping his half-sister, Kristi Fulghum shoot her husband, Joey Fulghum and sentenced to life in prison. He spent nearly four years behind bars before his conviction was reversed, and he was found not guilty in a second trial. His first conviction hinged largely on a false confession he made to protect Kristi Fulghum.
He sought compensation from a state program allotting wrongfully convicted prisoners $50,000 per year that they were imprisoned, but the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court ruled against Edmonds, due to him playing a role in his own conviction by making the false confession.
However, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in Edmonds’ favor Thursday.
The supreme court’s opinion was that Edmonds made the confession for reasons other than getting himself convicted, citing an exchange during the direct examination of Edmonds during his second trial.
In the exchange, Edmonds called his false confession ”stupid,” based on what he knew at that point. He also said his reason in making the false confession at 13 was to protect his half-sister.
The Supreme Court also cited other past cases as examples.
The decision means that Edmonds will get a new trial, and could receive $200,000 if he wins the case.