A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge on Friday granted a stay of execution to Terrance "Terry" Williams, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday.

In a blistering opinion from the bench, Judge M. Teresa Sarmina ruled that the prosecution in Williams 1986 murder trial withheld evidence and sanitized witness statements to police before handing them over to the defense.

Sarmina said the prosecutor - Andrea Foulkes, who is now a U.S. Attorney - was not credible when she testified under oath that it didn't matter to her if she didn't get a first-degree murder conviction.

"Evidence has plainly been suppressed," said Sarmina, who noted that Foulkes' tendency of "playing fast and loose" inclined her "toward a finding that the suppression was closer to willful" rather than inadvertent.

Sarmina said Foulkes "had no problem disregarding her ethical obligations" in an attempt to win.

The judge found the suppressed evidence would not have affected the jury's verdict of guilty, but that it may well have made a difference when they considered whether or not to impose the death sentence. At the time of trial, the jury found no mitigating circumstances to consider in making their decision.

Sarmina ruled that a new penalty phase be held for Williams, in which a new jury would hear evidence and decide again whether or not to impose the death penalty.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced he will address the ruling shortly.