Lawyer Staples Hughes has been cleared of any wrongdoing in revealing a dead clients' confession that he believed could help prove a man innocent of murder.

Hughes said today that the N.C. State Bar cleared him last week after a lengthy investigation about his disclosure. He said the bar dismissed a complaint against him finding no probable cause, Titan Barksdale reports.

Hughes was trying to help prisoner Lee Wayne Hunt, who was convicted of killing a Fayetteville couple 21 years ago, and sentenced to life in prison.

During a hearing to seek a new trial for Hunt, a Cumberland County Superior Court judge warned he would report Hughes to the bar over his testimony about the confession. Hughes testified that his client, Jerry Cashwell, told him that he acted alone in killing the couple.

Hunt, whose case has gained national attention after he appeared on "60 Minutes," is still fighting to prove his innocence. Hughes' testimony was rejected by the judge, and the N.C. Supreme Court recently denied Hunt's request for a review of his case.

Hunt's attorneys are planning to appeal his case to federal court.

Lawyer Staples Hughes was trying to do the right thing when he disclosed information that could help prove a man innocent of murder.

Now it may cost him his law license, Titan Barksdale reports.

Hughes, the state's appellate defender, disclosed earlier this year that his client, a co-defendant in the murder, had confessed 20 years earlier that he alone killed Roland and Lisa Matthews in Fayetteville.

After his client, Jerry Cashwell, died, Hughes spoke up. The confession, coupled with challenges to how bullet evidence was analyzed, could get a new trial for Lee Wayne Hunt, who was convicted of the slayings 21 years ago and sentenced to life in prison.

It also puts Hughes in a fight for his career. (N&O)