Michael Blair's case has been one of Texas' most controversial death sentences since he was convicted. Blair has always maintained his innocence. He was convicted on the basis of hair and fiber analysis prior to the availability of DNA testing. The notorious case spawned a rush to judgment with his prosecution and conviction, as well as hasty legislation. In recent years, repeated DNA testing had excluded Blair, yet the courts have been sluggish to act in his case.
The Dallas Morning News reports, "Collin DA: Wrong man may have been convicted in Plano girl's death."
The Collin County District Attorney’s office Friday, for the first time, strongly indicated that it might have sent the wrong man to Death Row for the 1993 murder of 7-year-old Ashley Estell.
District Attorney John R. Roach said Friday that newly-tested DNA evidence does not connect Michael Blair to the crime and the case remains under investigation.Mr. Blair was sentenced to death in 1994 for kidnapping the Plano girl from a playground and killing her. The primary evidence against him was a hair sample that prosecutors said connected him to the slaying.
But DNA tests now show the hair is not a match, and prosecutors on Friday joined with defense attorneys in seeking relief for Mr. Blair though Mr. Roach, in a statement, stopped short of declaring him innocent.
Texas AP reports, "DA says conviction in 'Ashley's Law' case can't stand,"via the San Antonio Express-News.
Collin County District Attorney John Roach said in a statement Friday that new DNA evidence does not connect Michael Blair to the 1993 killing of 7-year-old Ashley Estell.
The girl's death prompted the Legislature to pass tough laws, called "Ashley's Laws," that require longer prison terms and public registration for sex offenders.
At the time of the slaying, Blair was on parole after serving only 18 months of a 10-year sentence for burglary and indecency with a child.
Last month, The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals asked a trial court to determine the significance of new DNA testing in the Blair case.
Even if Blair is formally exonerated in the capital murder case, he has been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in the sexual assaults of other children in the early 1990s.
The Innocence Project, which assisted in the case, has issued a news release. Here's an excerpt:
Following is a statement from Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, on a state court ruling late today that Michael Blair's capital murder conviction should be overturned. Blair has been on death row since 1994. Less than a year after Blair was sentenced to death, then-Governor George W. Bush signed "Ashley's Law," named after the victim in the case, expanding punishment and registration for sex offenders.
"Today, the prosecution finally agreed that Michael Blair's capital conviction
should be overturned. As a result, Michael Blair's conviction will likely be
vacated and he will be exonerated from death row, though he will remain in
prison for other crimes. DNA testing shows that Michael Blair did not commit
the crime for which he was sentenced to die. We have said for years that
Michael Blair is innocent, and today the prosecution conceded that no jury
would ever convict him in this case. DNA testing and other evidence also
indicates that another man, now deceased, may have committed this crime."Troubling questions about our criminal justice are raised any time DNA
testing shows that someone on death row is innocent. But in this case, the
community rushed to judgment because Michael Blair had a record as a sex
offender -- while the apparent real perpetrator, who had no record, evaded
justice. More than just an irony, this should give everyone pause about
legislating or reaching court decisions based on community fear and outrage."This case starkly shows that the system makes mistakes, and that those
mistakes can have chilling consequences. Michael Blair was almost executed
for a crime that DNA testing shows he did not commit.
Earlier coverage of the Michael Blair case is here.
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