Complex sentence: The three were released from prison in August 2011 after all three pleaded guilty to first-degree murder using a legal mechanism called an Alford plea, which allows the defendant to maintain their innocence while conceding that there is enough evidence to possibly convict them at trial.
Split into simpler sentences: The three were released from prison in August 2011 after all three pleaded guilty to first-degree murder using a legal mechanism called an Alford plea. An Alford plea allows the defendant to maintain their innocence while conceding that there is enough evidence to possibly convict them at trial.