Published: November 10, 2009 12:29 pm      

COURTS: ATTEMPTED MURDER CONVICTION OVERTURNED

Henry Lamb to get a new trial

The 25-year prison sentenced handed down to Henry L. Lamb for the attempted first degree murder of his daughter, attempted second degree murder of another daughter, and assault against his granddaughter has been overturned by the district court of appeals, according to court documents.

Judge David W. Fina reversed Lamb's sentence Thursday in a Live Oak courtroom.

Court documents show Lamb was granted a retrial due to an improper jury instruction given during his original trial in July 2008. The appeals court ruled that "the trial court committed fundamental error by giving the standard jury instruction for attempted manslaughter by act, which adds the additional element that the defendant committed an act intended to cause death of the victim." However, the correct guideline for attempted manslaughter defined "by act requires only an intentional unlawful act," not with intention to cause death.

In August 2007, according to previous testimony, Henry Lamb showed up at his daughter Lisa Sanderson's house uninvited and shot daughter Loretta Lamb in the chest with a rifle while she vacuumed.

Loretta testified that she initially thought the vacuum cleaner had exploded, and when she turned to ask her sister Lisa to take her to the hospital, she was shot a second time in the back. Henry Lamb then aimed the gun at Sanderson and pulled the trigger twice, but it misfired both times, according to testimony. Henry Lamb then pointed the gun at his granddaughter Rashietta Jones (Loretta's daughter), but she fled and locked herself in a bathroom.

Henry Lamb was convicted in July 2008 and sentenced in August.

The district court of appeals filed its opinion last month, and Lamb appeared in court Thursday to hear the court's decision.

A new trial has been set for January 2010.