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| Report: DNA Casts Doubt on Convict |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/07/2002 |
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Results from DNA tests ordered in a death row inmate's case show the last remaining hair evidence used in the conviction belong to neither the defendant nor victim, a published report said October 4. The results, obtained by The Dallas Morning News, have encouraged Michael Blair's attorneys that the inmate will win a new trial in the killing of 7-year-old Ashley Estell, or be exonerated in the death. However, prosecutors maintain there is sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction of the previously convicted child molester in the little girl's 1993 abduction and death. 'Yes, some of the evidence has changed, but it doesn't mean we have no case against Mr. Blair,' John Stride, chief of the Collin County district attorney's appellate division, told the newspaper. 'That's what we'll be arguing to the trial court, and that's been our position that we've maintained all along.' A Collin County judge will make findings of fact and forward those to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will decide Blair's fate. If the conviction is upheld, Blair's attorneys could move their appeal back to a federal court. 'We've certainly arrived at a place where the hair evidence has created a sufficient basis to vacate his conviction,' said Barry Scheck, a New York defense lawyer who specializes in DNA cases. 'It's pretty clear from the record the hair evidence was central to the conviction and was of such great importance that it raises a reasonable probability of a different outcome if the case were tried again.' |
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