Kentucky Supreme Court: Defendants Are Entitled To One DNA Test Absent RARE Circumstances.
High court sets limit on DNA testing
After conviction, it's allowed only once
Inmates in Kentucky are entitled to only a single DNA test of old evidence regardless of what, if any, results an initial test may produce, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The high court's ruling in the case of condemned inmate Thomas Clyde Bowling marks the first time the scope of Kentucky's post-conviction DNA testing law has been defined. Justice Mary Noble wrote for the court the intent of the law is to allow one test, not multiple tests, of evidence except under exceedingly rare circumstances.
“DNA testing, sometimes many years after trial, is limited to the ‘one bite of the apple' rule,” Noble wrote.
Bowling, 57, was sentenced to death Jan. 4, 1991, in Lexington for the shooting deaths of Eddie and Tina Earley. The husband and wife were shot on the morning of April 9, 1990, while sitting in their car before opening their family-owned dry-cleaning business. Their 2-year-old son was injured, but survived the attack. Bowling claims members of a family in Lexington, who he knew, killed the Earleys in a dispute.
DNA testing in Bowling's case found genetic material from multiple people on a jacket and a hat identified by a witness and prosecutors as having been worn by the shooter. A circuit judge in Lexington turned away a request for further testing on the evidence, saying it was contaminated and the law did not allow for more tests.
The decision is the first time the limits of Kentucky's law have been defined in the seven years since testing has been allowed. The court took only Bowling's case, but the decision could affect DNA testing requests by other death-row inmates.
Kentucky's law includes a provision that does allow for multiple DNA tests, but only if the person making the request can show the requested exam is significantly different than prior tests and may resolve an issue not covered by previous tests.
While 47 states allow access to post-conviction DNA testing, the laws vary in scope and substance. In Kentucky, several death-row inmates have requested testing under the law, but none have been successful in overturning their convictions.
After conviction, it's allowed only once
Inmates in Kentucky are entitled to only a single DNA test of old evidence regardless of what, if any, results an initial test may produce, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The high court's ruling in the case of condemned inmate Thomas Clyde Bowling marks the first time the scope of Kentucky's post-conviction DNA testing law has been defined. Justice Mary Noble wrote for the court the intent of the law is to allow one test, not multiple tests, of evidence except under exceedingly rare circumstances.
“DNA testing, sometimes many years after trial, is limited to the ‘one bite of the apple' rule,” Noble wrote.
Bowling, 57, was sentenced to death Jan. 4, 1991, in Lexington for the shooting deaths of Eddie and Tina Earley. The husband and wife were shot on the morning of April 9, 1990, while sitting in their car before opening their family-owned dry-cleaning business. Their 2-year-old son was injured, but survived the attack. Bowling claims members of a family in Lexington, who he knew, killed the Earleys in a dispute.
DNA testing in Bowling's case found genetic material from multiple people on a jacket and a hat identified by a witness and prosecutors as having been worn by the shooter. A circuit judge in Lexington turned away a request for further testing on the evidence, saying it was contaminated and the law did not allow for more tests.
The decision is the first time the limits of Kentucky's law have been defined in the seven years since testing has been allowed. The court took only Bowling's case, but the decision could affect DNA testing requests by other death-row inmates.
Kentucky's law includes a provision that does allow for multiple DNA tests, but only if the person making the request can show the requested exam is significantly different than prior tests and may resolve an issue not covered by previous tests.
While 47 states allow access to post-conviction DNA testing, the laws vary in scope and substance. In Kentucky, several death-row inmates have requested testing under the law, but none have been successful in overturning their convictions.
Labels: Justice
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 9:48 PM
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