|
|
| DNA evidence frees La. death row inmate |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 08/10/2004 |
|
A man sentenced to death as a teenager was freed Monday by DNA evidence, and said he had been certain from the beginning that he would be vindicated. For more than seven years, Ryan Matthews has said he had nothing to do with the 1997 robbery and murder of a grocer. He said he knew that someday he would be freed. "I always knew it would happen. So it wasn't a surprise to me," he said after a brief hearing dropping charges against him. "Never give up hope, no matter how bad it gets." State District Judge Henry Sullivan dismissed the indictment at the request of prosecutors, who noted they have a year to "revisit" the case. William Sothern, an attorney for The Capital Appeals Project, said he doubts that will happen. "He's exonerated. Without a doubt," Sothern said. Jurors were told that no physical evidence linked Matthews to the holdup and murder of Tommy Vanhoose. But two witnesses identified him as the gunman, and a co-defendant, Travis Hayes, told police that he drove the getaway car after Matthews, then 17, shot Vanhoose. Ultimately, DNA found in a ski mask that was tossed from the getaway car was found to match that of Rondell Love, who is serving time for an unrelated killing. In addition, Matthews' lawyers said, other inmates have told investigators that Love bragged about killing Vanhoose. Emily Bolton, an attorney with the Innocence Project of New Orleans, said she was confident that Hayes' conviction will also be reversed. "The only evidence against Travis Hayes is his statement that Ryan Matthews did it, which DNA proves is false," she said. Officials have not said whether they plan to prosecute Love. District Attorney Paul Connick said the case is still open, but acknowledged that the DNA evidence made it impossible to prove Matthews' guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. "I felt the only fair thing to do would be to dismiss the indictment against him and continue to investigate the case," Connick said. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think