Margo Freshwater v. State of Tennessee

The petitioner, Margo Freshwater, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced by the jury to imprisonment for 99 years. In 1970, she escaped from the Tennessee Prison for Women and was at large until 2002, when she was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, and returned to Tennessee to resume service of her sentence. She filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis which twice has been remanded to the trial court. The main issue in this appeal is whether the State withheld from the petitioner’s counsel the statement of Johnny Box that the petitioner’s co-defendant told him that he had been the lone shooter of the victim, which, had it been revealed to her counsel, more probably than not, according to the petitioner, would have resulted in a different judgment. Following our review, we concur with the argument of the petitioner in this matter. Accordingly, we reverse the petitioner’s conviction for first degree murder and remand for a new trial.