Along with being in poor health and in danger of potentially contracting the coronavirus, a 72-year-old convict has been ordered released from prison as newly discovered evidence—allegedly kept from his lawyer—calls into question the validity of his murder conviction.

U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Antonio Martinez's emergency motion for bail. According to Goldberg, both Martinez's risk of catching COVID-19 and recently uncovered evidence in a police homicide file that there were other plausible suspects in the murder case contributed to granting Martinez his freedom.

Martinez was convicted of first-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in 1985 for the shooting deaths of Hector and Luis Camacho. He requested habeas corpus review in 2019 based on the new evidence, and added COVID-19 concerns to his request to be freed when the pandemic arose. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office did not oppose his request.