The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Eastern District reversed a local judge's 2004 opinion that awarded Fletcher a new trial and vacated his death sentence stemming from a 1993 murder conviction [News, "The Comeback Kid," J.F. Pirro, April 13, 2006]. In a 27-page opinion, the court ruled that Fletcher's decision to serve as his own attorney during the appeals process precluded him from claiming he wasn't properly represented at trial.

The ruling does not put Fletcher back on death row. Judge John Milton Younge gets the case again and is required to rule on unresolved claims, including whether then-public defender Stephen Patrizio's failure to argue for a sentence of life over death impacted the verdict. Then, the case will revert to state court. If that doesn't go Fletcher's way, a federal review will follow. (Historically, federal courts have had a more sympathetic eye for capital defendants.)

The sole comment from the district attorney's office came from ADA Jeffrey Krulik, who would only say, "We agree with the Supreme Court's decision."

For Fletcher, the ruling is particularly disappointing. He has long taken pride in his handiwork as a jailhouse lawyer. And in a recent interview, Fletcher seemed confident that he'd soon be walking out of Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility. No one from his current defense team at the Levant, Martin, Tauber & Levin law firm would comment on the record. But Fletcher's 70-year-old mother Lucille would.

"Now, I know a fix is in," she says. "We're just going to have to work and pray a little harder."

Even if Fletcher hadn't represented himself, the state court also refuted a big piece of evidence—a bruise on victim Vaughn Christopher's chest—Fletcher depended on. The court said it could have been caused by anything, and not necessarily a physical confrontation with Fletcher, who claims he defended himself when Christopher pulled a gun. The state court concluded that original testimony from Dr. Hydrow Park, whose post-conviction testimony has supported Fletcher's account, wouldn't have influenced the jury.

Despite the decision, the boxer still has growing support outside the bars. Two days before the decision, local promoter Damon Feldman, son of Fletcher's former trainer and manager Marty Feldman, launched the Anthony Fletcher Foundation to raise awareness of Fletcher's case. "I just can't believe what's happened to Anthony," he says. "It seems very unrealistic."