Death row inmate gets legal reprieve because his victim had cheated him of 10 at cards

An inmate has escaped death row in Little Rock, USA after claiming he stabbed a man because he was trying to recover money lost in a card game.

The highest court in Arkansas ordered Michael Daniels off death row yesterday because of a 68-year-old ruling which says someone cannot be convicted of aggravated robbery while trying to recover gambling losses.

Daniels was recorded on CCTV stabbing James Williams in the head, chest and stomach with a Bowie knife in January 2006.

He claimed he attacked the 52-year-old while attempting to recover $20 (£12.86) he lost in a game of three-card monte. He also claimed during the trial that Williams had cheated in the game.

Justices cited a 1940 court decision preventing conviction of aggravated robbery while trying to recover money lost gambling.

The split court reversed Daniels' aggravated robbery conviction and the capital murder charge linked to it, but upheld his conviction for premeditated and deliberate capital murder.

Aggravated robbery was the underlying circumstance when a jury ordered Daniels to die for Williams' death.

Associate Justice Robert Brown acknowledged that some could argue the 1940 case was not in the public's interest, but said, 'it is nonetheless still good law in Arkansas.'

Daniels' attorney, Teri Chambers, said Thursday's ruling 'makes sense because you have to be able to commit a theft in order to commit a robbery. You have to be taking someone else's property to commit a theft.'

It was unclear whether the ruling had been used to get anyone else off of Arkansas death row.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence that Williams cheated during the card game.

A new sentence hearing has been ordered for Daniels.