Exoneration of Adair Is Stayed

A judge stayed his ruling of factual innocence for a woman acquitted of the baseball bat murder of her husband, pending an appeal by prosecutors.

Last month, Superior Court Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt said the evidence presented at trial went beyond acquittal and exonerated Jeanie Louise Adair in the 1996 killing of Robert Adair. He ordered some records sealed and others destroyed.

He received notice this week that prosecutors would appeal the ruling of factual innocence, so state law requires that he stay his decision until a ruling by a higher court on the matter.

Prosecutors contend that the judge made the wrong decision and used the wrong standard to reach his decision. Wiatt is precluded from commenting on the ruling by ethics standards.