Brain-Damaged Man Gets New Trial in 1987 Killing

Case became a cause for activists for the mentally disabled

Supporters of a brain-damaged man serving life in prison for killing his former wife's grandmother say they plan to seek bail for him after Connecticut's second-highest court ordered a new trial.

The state Appellate Court ruled Monday that prosecutors suppressed key evidence in the case of Richard Lapointe that may have supported his alibi.

Lapointe was convicted in 1992 of killing Bernice Martin, who was found raped, stabbed and strangled in her burning Manchester apartment.