Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 16:25:10 GMT -5
Judge: DNA won't help N.C. death row defendant
A judge ruled Monday that results of a DNA test for convicted murderer and
rapist Jerry Wayne Conner won't help him stay out of the death chamber,
and defense lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.
Gates County Superior Court Judge Richard Parker ruled that results of the
new test on a semen sample were unfavorable to Conner. The decision came
after an hour-long hearing, during which the judge said he would hear only
evidence related to DNA.
Conner was sentenced to death for the 1990 shotgun slaying at a Gates
County store of clerk Minh Rogers and the rape and murder of her
16-year-old daughter, Linda. The state Supreme Court halted the execution
scheduled for May 12 so a DNA test requested by the defense could be
performed.
District Attorney Frank Parrish said there was enough evidence without DNA
- including a confession and a bloody footprint - to convict and execute
the 40-year-old Conner.
Parrish said his office will ask that the stay of execution be dissolved
as soon as a formal order is signed by the judge. Once that is done, a new
execution date can be set by the Department of Correction.
But defense lawyers said they planned to appeal Parker's ruling because
DNA testing was inconclusive and showed doubt that Conner committed the
crime. The semen sample had characteristics shared by 60 % of the male
population, they said.
The defense also had asked the judge to look at other evidence, including
expert testimony on the reliability of Conner's confession and the
eyewitness. The judge denied those requests.
Defense lawyer Mark Kleinschmidt said if additional evidence had been
allowed, it would have shown that the eyewitnesses who said they saw
Conner were underaged and drunk and that another eyewitness said the man
she saw at the store wasn't Conner.
Kleinschmidt also said other biological samples should be tested, such as
pubic hair from the victim and blood from the crime scene. He said the
confession wasn't signed and the interview wasn't tape-recorded.
"We wanted to talk about all this other evidence that exists," he said.
"The judge failed to give us the opportunity."
If the judge had ruled the results were favorable to Conner, state law
allowed his lawyers to ask the judge to throw out the conviction, release
Conner or order a new trial or sentencing.
An Aug. 14 report from the testing company, LabCorp, said one sample from
the rape victim had a similar genetic marker as Conner.
"Jerry Conner and his relatives cannot be excluded as the source of the
male DNA in this sample," the report said.
(source: Associated Press)
A judge ruled Monday that results of a DNA test for convicted murderer and
rapist Jerry Wayne Conner won't help him stay out of the death chamber,
and defense lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.
Gates County Superior Court Judge Richard Parker ruled that results of the
new test on a semen sample were unfavorable to Conner. The decision came
after an hour-long hearing, during which the judge said he would hear only
evidence related to DNA.
Conner was sentenced to death for the 1990 shotgun slaying at a Gates
County store of clerk Minh Rogers and the rape and murder of her
16-year-old daughter, Linda. The state Supreme Court halted the execution
scheduled for May 12 so a DNA test requested by the defense could be
performed.
District Attorney Frank Parrish said there was enough evidence without DNA
- including a confession and a bloody footprint - to convict and execute
the 40-year-old Conner.
Parrish said his office will ask that the stay of execution be dissolved
as soon as a formal order is signed by the judge. Once that is done, a new
execution date can be set by the Department of Correction.
But defense lawyers said they planned to appeal Parker's ruling because
DNA testing was inconclusive and showed doubt that Conner committed the
crime. The semen sample had characteristics shared by 60 % of the male
population, they said.
The defense also had asked the judge to look at other evidence, including
expert testimony on the reliability of Conner's confession and the
eyewitness. The judge denied those requests.
Defense lawyer Mark Kleinschmidt said if additional evidence had been
allowed, it would have shown that the eyewitnesses who said they saw
Conner were underaged and drunk and that another eyewitness said the man
she saw at the store wasn't Conner.
Kleinschmidt also said other biological samples should be tested, such as
pubic hair from the victim and blood from the crime scene. He said the
confession wasn't signed and the interview wasn't tape-recorded.
"We wanted to talk about all this other evidence that exists," he said.
"The judge failed to give us the opportunity."
If the judge had ruled the results were favorable to Conner, state law
allowed his lawyers to ask the judge to throw out the conviction, release
Conner or order a new trial or sentencing.
An Aug. 14 report from the testing company, LabCorp, said one sample from
the rape victim had a similar genetic marker as Conner.
"Jerry Conner and his relatives cannot be excluded as the source of the
male DNA in this sample," the report said.
(source: Associated Press)