The Florida Supreme Court overturned the death sentence for a man convicted of a murder committed in 1985 after DNA evidence was found to discredit the case made by the state and Florida criminal defense lawyer Janet Johnson says that it was the right decision.
"It's the right decision, but it is not a clear cut case where the DNA says he had nothing to do with it," Johnson said on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum" on Wednesday.
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"What the DNA tests show is that there was a boyfriend of the victim who apparently was a match for the DNA, not the gentleman who has been on death row for 30 years," the Florida criminal defense attorney said.
"The gentleman who has been on death row for 30 years did have the woman's checkbook, did have her personal belongings, and his story all along was, 'I was robbing her while she was having a fight with her boyfriend, and the boyfriend is the person who did it,'" she added.
Johnson said that this is a situation in which DNA "actually raised more questions."
"While DNA can say someone else was there and his semen may have been involved, there was a rape, so he obviously was there and was involved in some fashion," she said. "It doesn't necessarily rule out everybody else."
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