Conviction Overturned

Prosecutor speaks about changes in laws that led to conviction reversal.

Harlingen - One of the prosecuting attorneys that worked on the original trial of John Alan Rubio, says despite Wednesday's ruling, police and lawyers did nothing wrong during the 2003 trial.

The Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction and death sentence based on a change in law after the trial.

The ruling, was made because testimony given by Rubio's common law wife, Angela Camacho, has been ruled illegal.

Rubio will now have to be re-tried.

Former prosecutor Paxton Warner says the changes in the law, were made retroactive.

"About 8 months after we tried the case, the U.S. Supreme Court came back and said, you can't do that anymore. You can't put in a co-defendants statement, reversing what we had just done" says Warner.

But now that Camacho is in jail, prosecutors can call her to the stand to offer the same testimony.

"It will be interesting to see if the state brings her down to testify now. She doesn't have the 5th amendment right anymore, so that will be an interesting twist in this case" says Warner.

Rubio will be brought back to the Valley in the next few months, with his new trial set to begin sometime next year.