Story Archive

Counting the Days

Lionel Mackey Jr., 40, sat in a state prison in Michigan City, Ind., with a scheduled release date just two days after his birthday — his 113th birthday. He was convicted of attempted murder, intimidation, and several other charges. His DNA, prosecutors said, was found on a homemade bomb deputies destroyed outside his ex-girlfriend’s workplace. But the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled on his case. His conviction of intimidation, it said, couldn’t stand: Jurors may have relied on the same evidence to convict him of that and attempted murder. And his sentences for criminal recklessness and possession of a destructive device or explosive added up to more than a statutory limit, and had to be reduced. So Mackey’s new sentence was shortened by six years and six months — when he’ll be 106. (AC/Muncie Star Press) ...Now it’s up to the Indiana prison health system to keep him alive long enough for the difference to matter.