Former Angola lifer John Floyd has collected ample evidence that he was innocent of the 1980 murder of a Times-Picayune proofreader and that authorities denied him a fair trial, a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled recently.

The panel’s 2-1 decision upheld U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance’s decision last year to overturn Floyd’s conviction for killing William Hines in the French Quarter.