By NICOLE LOGGINS / Staff Writer

A new trial for former Vincent pastor Timothy Tillman, who was convicted of killing his wife in 2009, is now on hold.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new trial in a 3-2 ruling on Sept. 30, 2011.

The Attorney General’s Office filed a Dec. 27, 2011  petition with the Alabama Supreme court asking the court to reverse the ruling of the Court of Criminal Appeals. That request is still pending, according to a Supreme Court official.

According to previous reports, Tillman’s conviction was appealed by the Equal Justice Initiative, which argued that the murder and forgery charge should not have been consolidated.

“The two charges were not related and evidence about the forgery made the jury more likely to wrongly convict Mr. Tillman of murder despite the lack of evidence that he intentionally, rather than accidentally, fired the shot that killed his wife,” an EJI press release stated.

Tillman was convicted of murdering his wife, Janet Lorita Tillman, in the parsonage of The Vincent Revival Center, where the family lived on Oct. 26, 2005.

Tillman is currently being held at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala.