DNA casts doubt on murder conviction – 27 years later
Published: 11 December, 2008, 15:39
A man who spent 27 years in prison in the US has been released after DNA evidence cast doubt on his murder conviction.
US citizen William Dillon, aged 49, was jailed in 1981 for killing a man. Last month he was freed on bail in Florida, reports the Associated Press.
A judge has ordered a new trial after DNA tests on the victim's bloodstained T-shirt showed no connection to Dillon.
Prosecutors say it’s unlikely that a jury today would find Dillon guilty ‘beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt’.
The new trial will be further hampered because nine of the witnesses from Dillon's original 1981 trial have died, while others cannot testify because of medical problems.
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