Politicians back bid by firm to free Briton on death row

Pro bono work by City firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to free a British man who has been on death row in Florida for 14 years has been boosted by a letter from 300 UK politicians calling for a review.Krishna Maharaj, whose legal team is led by Freshfields partner Paul Lomas, was convicted in 1987 of murdering father and son Derrick and Duane Moo Young.

The letter was sent to Florida governor Jeb Bush and highlighted allegations of 'serious flaws' made in Mr Maharaj's original case.

According to the letter, the original judge tried, via a third party, to extract a bribe from the defendant, and was then arrested during the trial for corruption.

In addition, the chief prosecution witness failed a lie detector test, and a number of witnesses who could have given him an alibi for the night of the murder did not give evidence.Victoria MacCallum