Man serving life in SC gets new trial in deaths

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Story Created: Oct 17, 2012 at 11:15 AM EDT

Story Updated: Oct 19, 2012 at 3:15 AM EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina appellate court has ordered a new trial for a man serving a life sentence for two murders.

The state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Jeremy McMillan should get a new trial based on mistakes made by the judge overseeing his 2008 trial.

McMillan was convicted in the shooting deaths of Patrick Hood and Joshua Lee. Authorities say the men were killed after a fight in a Lee County bar.

The appeals court said McMillan's trial judge should have let his attorneys strike a white person from the jury pool. That judge had agreed with prosecutors that McMillan objected to the person because of race.

McMillan's lawyers said they didn't want the juror because it didn't seem that person could be unbiased.

Prosecutors didn't immediately comment.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

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