Judge's 'hush' rule frees convict

ST. LOUIS -- A federal appeals court Wednesday ordered a new trial for a man serving 15 years behind bars on a 1994 burglary conviction, saying the trial judge overstepped by not letting him even whisper to his defense attorney in court at trial.

In affirming a lower federal court's ruling, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also cited the trial judge's demand that Gary Moore only pass notes in court to his attorney.

Missouri must free Moore from a Farmington, Mo., prison if the 41-year-old man is not retried "within a reasonable time," the ruling stated.