A prison inmate convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the stabbing death of another inmate during a mess hall fight can seek to have his conviction vacated by proving that a principal witness against him was coerced, the Appellate Division, Third Department, has ruled.
Inmate Quentin Lewis—already serving time in prison for an armed robbery committed in 1997, when he was 17 years old—was convicted in July 2001 for the stabbing and sentenced in Greene County Court as a second violent felony offender to 25 years, making him ineligible for parole until 2031. On appeal in 2002, the Third Department affirmed the conviction.
