No relief for man who says he missed plea deal

DETROIT (AP) -- A judge has turned down a recommendation from another judge who said a Detroit man serving a life sentence for murder should be given a chance to get out of prison. Samuel Ambrose claims his rights were violated in 1979 when his attorney didn't tell him about a plea deal that would have capped his maximum sentence at 15 years. After hearing testimony, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Binder recommended that Ambrose's case be reopened. But U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington recently rejected the recommendation. Ludington says there are different ways to interpret a document that makes a reference to manslaughter and a five-year sentence. The judge says there's no evidence that prosecutors made a formal offer. The 53-year-old Ambrose says he killed a man in self-defense outside a Detroit bar. Published: Mon, Feb 24, 2014