Pittman granted new trial in grandparents' murder

Christopher Pittman has been granted a new trial in the shotgun murder of his grandparents in 2001.

Pittman was convicted at age 17 and sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his grandparents. He blamed his actions on the antidepressant Zoloft.

In a 41-page post conviction relief order, Circuit Court Judge Roger Young said Pittman’s trial counsel was ineffective for not advising him of the differences between the effects of a 30-year sentence for murder and a 30-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.

Also and as a result, his team did not pursue a plea bargain to voluntary manslaughter, a lesser crime which could have meant less prison time. The murder conviction means Pittman would not be eligible for parole and would not get out of prison until age 42. A voluntary manslaughter conviction would have opened the door to early release based on good behavior.

Pittman, now 21, was found guilty in 2005 of the shotgun murder of his grandparents four years earlier when he was 12. Authorities found Joe and Joy Pittman dead in their beds in their Chester County home their grandson set on fire before fleeing in their vehicle with his dog.

The boy’s three-week trial was moved to Charleston County. He was tried as an adult.

Pittman’s new appeal attorneys had argued he deserves a new trial because his former lawyers didn’t do their jobs properly at trial and didn’t fight hard enough to have him tried as a juvenile, which would have kept him behind bars only until he turned 21.

Pittman blamed Zoloft for affecting his personality and putting voices in his head, arguing the drug kept him from knowing right from wrong. Prosecutors say the murders were pre-meditated, in retaliation to his grandparents’ discipline.

Young’s order opens the door for Pittman’s defense team to pursue a plea bargain for voluntary manslaughter.