The re-trial of a convicted child killer will likely be set for later this spring, according to Scott County prosecutors preparing for the case of Stanley Liggins.
"At this point, it's like the beginning of any case. We basically start over, and prepare for trial. Probably late March, early April," said Scott County Attorney Mike Walton.
Liggins has been convicted two different times of kidnapping and killing Jennifer Lewis, 9, of Rock Island back in 1990.
Most recently, the Iowa Appellate Court ruled that Liggins was denied a fair trial because prosecutors didn't reveal that a key witness was a paid police informant in unrelated cases.
"There was a witness who was a paid informant for another detective. It was not known by the prosecution, and as the District Court found, was not even known by the detectives on this case. However, because it was the same agency, the Court of Appeals felt it was information that should have been disclosed," Walton said.
Liggins was transferred recently to the Scott County Jail in Davenport from prison, where he will appear for the first time on the case, likely via video, on February 21.
"The challenges of course, are witnesses, a lot of time has passed. However, these witnesses have testified at least twice before, so you do have testimony that was "recent" at the time," he said.