A hearing to determine if a man will be released from prison after he appealed his murder conviction after spending about 40 years in prison for a murder in which he didn't pull the trigger was postponed.
Cedric Struggs, 60, was convicted in 1981 of first-degree murder, assault and robbery in the shooting death of Alfred Joe Dishman at a gas station in 1980.
Ronald Robinson, Struggs and another man went to the store to rob it, but then Robinson shot Dishman, according to previous reporting.
Struggs has appealed his conviction under Senate Bill 1437, which changed the definition of felony murder. In the 1980s, co-conspirators of a violent crime could be found guilty of murder even if they did not kill the person.
SB 1437 tacks on new requirements to find a person guilty, such as the suspect having committed the murder, being a major participant in the commission of the crime and acting with reckless indifference to human life.
A Kern County Superior Court judge could either resentence Struggs to time he's already served, or could deny the appeal.
A hearing during which attorneys will present their evidence to the judge is scheduled for Dec. 15.