That's the headline of Jordan Smith's latest report in the current Austin Chronicle. LINK Here's an extended excerpt:
In a new motion filed Tuesday, July 15, lawyers for the two defendants in the yogurt shop murder case say the Travis County District Attorney's Office violated a court order by dragging its feet on providing defense attorneys the results of additional DNA testing.
Earlier this year, unbeknownst to defense attorneys, prosecutors sought to have retested several pieces of evidence gathered from the notorious 1991 murders – including two vaginal swabs collected from the youngest of the four female victims, 13-year-old Amy Ayers (one taken at the crime scene, the other at the medical examiner's office). Each swab reflected a previously undetected male DNA profile that does not match any of the yogurt shop defendants. The revelation prompted Joe James Sawyer, attorney for defendant Robert Springsteen, to file a writ with the court arguing that the DNA evidence exonerated his client (see "Yogurt Shop Murder," April 18).
Prosecutors dismissed the notion that the newly revealed male DNA would actually exonerate Springsteen or his co-defendant Michael Scott, even though no physical evidence ties either man to the crime. Instead, prosecutors Efrain De La Fuente and Gail Van Winkle told the Chronicle that they suspect a match to the DNA profile would come from "someone known to Amy Ayers" – implying, contrary to all previously disclosed information, either that the young victim was sexually active at the time of her death or that the profile was somehow the product of collection contamination. In May, District Judge Mike Lynch ordered the state to provide the results of that testing to the defense as soon as it was obtained. During a June pretrial hearing, the state did not respond when asked directly by Lynch whether it had yet obtained any results, leaving the impression that no new information had been obtained, and Lynch did not follow up. Yet spokespersons for two national DNA laboratories contacted by the Chronicle – Dallas-based Orchid Cellmark and Salt Lake City-based Sorenson Forensics – say the standard backlog for private labs is no more than 60 days from receipt of DNA material through the conclusion of testing and the submission of a written report, and rush jobs can be completed within 15 days.
Earlier coverage of the long-running, controversial case is here.
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