UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW — A client represented by University of Virginia School of Law professor Kelly Orians was recently released from prison after serving more than 26 years when a court agreed to a unique plea deal that focused on reconciliation. At 18, Everett “Buff” Offray fatally shot Timothy Lacey during an argument involving three others outside a convenience store in New Orleans. Originally charged with a capital offense, Offray was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to life without parole at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola prison. Citing ineffective counsel, he first applied for post-conviction relief in 2004 but delays, caused in part by Hurricane Katrina and then the COVID-19 pandemic, pushed his case back for years. “I didn’t feel like I was ever gonna get there,” he recalled. Orians took up Offray’s case last spring after being connected by Calvin Duncan, a mutual friend who was previously incarcerated at Angola and is now a student at Lewis & Clark Law School.