Krishnapriyan, Hand-Bender Clark and Weisburd.

Six students at UC Berkeley Law department helped to convert a potential death sentence into a life sentence for a mentally ill Virginia man who faced capital murder charges for his role in the deaths of his ex-girlfriend and brother. Justin Slater, 24, will now be eligible for parole at age 60.

Working within the Death Penalty Clinic under staff attorney Kate Weisburd, students Tess Hand-Bender, Stephanie Clark, Raghav Krishnapriyan, Joe Goldstein-Breyer, Ellen Rheaume and Sarah Ihn reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, identified witnesses who could describe and explain Slater’s history of mental illness. They also interviewed dozens of witnesses — many of whom shed light on his longstanding mental condition and mental state at the time of the crimes.

Read the full story here.

Photo: UC Berkeley Law.

Tracey Taylor is co-founder of Berkeleyside and co-founder and editorial director of Cityside, the nonprofit parent to Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside. Before launching Berkeleyside, Tracey wrote for...