Calvin Burdine, 50, originally was sentenced in 1984 to die for the stabbing death of his partner W.T. "Dub" Wise. 

A court ordered a new trial for Burdine when witnesses said his attorney, the late Joe Cannon, fell sleep at least 10 times during the trial. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that Burdine had had inadequate legal representation.

The case raised questions about the quality of justice in Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state.

Burdine's second trial was to begin in August, but Thursday he reached a plea bargain with prosecutors. Burdine pleaded guilty to capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony possession of a weapon and will serve life sentences for each.

His lawyers said they negotiated the plea bargain because a new trial would put him at risk of being sentenced to death again.

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