SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man who won a new trial for a murder conviction after two decades in prison has died before it got underway.

The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports (http://bit.ly/29DT4EY ) 64-year-old Hector Rivas died over the weekend at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. His health had deteriorated this year and he required a wheelchair for recent court appearances.

Rivas couldn't make $200,000 bail after being released from prison so he had been sitting in the Syracuse jail until his hospitalization.

Rivas was convicted in the 1987 killing of Syracuse nurse Valerie Hill but a federal appeals court threw out his conviction after judges ruled a defense lawyer at his 1993 trial failed to adequately challenge evidence.

The appeals court said previously that Rivas had presented a "credible" and "compelling" claim of innocence.

___

Information from: The Post-Standard, http://www.syracuse.com

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]

More From WIBX 950