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| Broward County To Conduct DNA Tests |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/08/2001 |
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Law enforcement officials have agreed to new DNA testing for all Death Row cases in Broward County, Florida after a test posthumously cleared an inmate who died in prison. The cases of 28 Death Row inmates will be reviewed for genetic evidence. The Broward County Police Chiefs Association recently announced its support for the review, which had been advocated by the Sheriff's Office and the state Attorney's Office. 'We feel it is just part of good police work,'' Fort Lauderdale assistant police chief Al Ortenzo said. The move was spurred by the case of Frank Lee Smith, who was on Death Row for the 1985 murder of an 8-year-old girl. New DNA tests in December linked the murder to another man who had been in a state psychiatric hospital since the late 1980s. Smith died of cancer on Death Row in January 2000. At least nine former death row inmates across the country have been exonerated because of DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based group that has provided legal assistance to prisoners. Illinois and New York passed laws giving death row inmates a right to DNA testing in cases where test results could potentially prove innocence. Ohio offered to pay for DNA testing for eligible death row inmates who request it. |
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