Court reduces Korkoneas' conviction for 2008 teenager's murder from life to 13 years

An appeals court in Lamia, central Greece, on Monday upheld the conviction of police special guard Epaminondas Korkoneas for the deadly shooting in December 2008 of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia but reduced the term from life to 13 years. 

Korkoneas had been convicted to life in prison for shooting Grigoropoulos during a verbal altercation with the 15-year-old and a group of his friends as they were hanging out in the popular Athens neighborhood.

The same court overturned the conviction of Vassilis Saraliotis, a colleague of Korkoneas who was with him during the incident. The judges ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he was an accomplice in the killing.