California Law Says This Man Isn’t a Murderer. Prosecutors Disagree
When lawmakers said accomplices aren't the same as killers, Neko Wilson was the first person freed. Now he may go back to jail.
MODESTO, Calif. — After California changed its murder laws last fall, Neko Wilson was the first man to walk free.
Wilson, 37, had been facing the death penalty for a 2009 robbery that led to the deaths of a couple in Fresno County. No one accused him of killing anyone, or even being in the family’s home that night, but prosecutors said he helped plan the break-in.
At the time, that was enough for him to be charged with felony murder, under a doctrine that holds that anyone involved in a crime is to people who actually participate in a slaying.
