|
After years of combating a homicide conviction counting on doubtful proof, Eddie Lee Howard of Mississippi, who spent greater than quarter of a century behind bars, has had his case dismissed, reports the New York Times. Howard, 67, had remained on demise row although his conviction was based mostly on little greater than chew marks on a homicide sufferer, which had been introduced as proof at his trial by an knowledgeable whose testimony has been known as into query. Howard’s conviction for capital homicide was overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Courtroom final yr, and he was launched in December. Final week, a choose accepted a prosecutor’s movement to dismiss the case.
“I agree with the Supreme Courtroom that chew mark proof has come below necessary scrutiny,” stated Lowndes County District Lawyer Scott Colom. “Apart from that proof, there was nothing else placing Mr. Howard on the scene of the homicide.” Howard was convicted within the 1992 killing of Georgia Kemp, 84, who was discovered lifeless in her dwelling. An post-mortem discovered that she died from two stab wounds and had accidents in step with rape however no seen chew marks. The testimony on chew marks got here from Dr. Michael West, a Mississippi dentist who was extensively sought by prosecutors within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties. He stated chew marks on Kemp’s physique, which he had discovered utilizing ultraviolet gentle, matched Howard’s tooth. Legal professionals for Howard argued that chew marks weren’t a dependable type of forensic proof. Chunk-mark proof has performed a job in tons of of instances. Its use within the 1979 trial of Ted Bundy put it into the general public highlight. The strategy has been criticized by specialists who see it as ineffective. Not less than 26 folks have been wrongfully convicted because of bite-mark proof, says the Innocence Venture.
