Posted on 10/28/2009 2:13:41 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A judge on Wednesday dismissed murder charges against two men awaiting retrial in the 1991 slayings of four teens at an Austin yogurt shop, after prosecutors admitted they weren't ready to take the case to a jury.
Robert Springsteen was sent to death row in 2001 after he was convicted in capital murder slaying of one of the girls. Michael Scott had been convicted in her death previously and sentenced to life in prison.
Both convictions were overturned when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Springsteen and Scott were unfairly denied the chance to cross-examine each other. They had implicated each other in statements to investigators.
The men were released on personal bond in June after new DNA tests could not match them to the crime scene and revealed the presence of an unknown male.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Just wow.
After Lynch ordered the charges dismissed, Springsteen and Scott smiled at each other and silently shook hands. Scott hugged his wife, Jeanine.
So are they claiming that they lied to investigators in the original investigation when they fingered each other as "guilty"?
Yep, get a rope.
FMCDH(BITS)
What an incomplete accounting of what happened in the courtroom. Yes, the prosecutor asked for the dismissal, but was it granted with or without prejudice - kind of a key fact there, left out. I’m hoping that it was without.
If the Austin crime lab is anything like the Houston Crime lab where hundreds of felony cases were tossed out because of incompetence and indifference, then I would be cautious in any assumptions.
Seems exculpatory to me...
Given that there apparently isn’t enough evidence to go to trial, how do we know that these men are the killers?
Sad, very sad.
Not enough evidence?
Jurors in previous trials found otherwise.
Hey I didn’t say there wasn’t enough evidence, the DA has apparently told the judge that he doesn’t have enough evidence to go to trial. Whereas you assume that two killers are going free, I’m wondering if two innocent men haven’t been locked up.
Well, if they both already admitted to being there, the new evidence would indicate the presence of a third party.
What kind of DNA sample are we talking about? I never read that the victims were raped. It’s a place of business; men work there; delivery men come in; there should be a lot of casually shed DNA. Conversely if two men come in to rob and kill, but don’t bleed or rape, and then set a fire, it wouldn’t be surprising if their DNA was not found.
Why is all other evidence ignored except DNA?
You mean there were no fingerprints ect? This is ridiculous.
It’s been SNAFU since day 1 of that investigation. Ronnie Earle (now retired Travis Co. DA) screwed it up along with APD.
For who, the defendants or the investigators?
The killers.
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