MN Supreme Court: Plea in Porter death stands
The Minnesota Supreme Court says a man serving life in prison for the beating death of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter cannot withdraw his guilty plea.
Rashad Arthur Raleigh, 31, had tried to withdraw his plea to first-degree premeditated murder, but a district court refused. The Supreme Court agreed, saying Thursday that Raleigh did not show his plea was invalid, or that he was pressured.
Porter was a 58-year-old Ramsey County probation officer. He was beaten to death in May 2007 in what was described as a robbery plot gone bad.
Porter led Villanova to the 1971 NCAA championship game. He went on to play seven pro seasons.
Raleigh, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges in connection with the 2007 killings of three people in St. Paul.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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