Convicted killer seeks DNA test
This morning, in a hearing at City Hall, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments over a convicted killer's request to order DNA testing that might prove his innocence.
This morning, in a hearing at City Hall, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments over a convicted killer's request to order DNA testing that might prove his innocence.
Louise Talley, 77, died after being raped and repeatedly stabbed in her Nicetown home in 1991, and a neighbor, Anthony Wright, then 20, signed a confession declaring he was guilty.
Wright later disavowed the confession, alleging that a detective threatened to "rip his eyes out" and sexually abuse him, according to a November Inquirer editorial.
The confession, though, was allowed at trial, and presented along with blood-stained clothing taken from Wright's home and the testimony of two men who wound up with some of Talley's belongings, resulting in Wright's conviction in 1993.
Today's hearing in Room 456 is to determine if genetic testing can be done on blood and semen stains and rape-kit samples collected in 1991.
Wright is represented by the New York-based Innocence Project, which has played a role in many of the more than 200 cases nationwide in which convicts were freed following DNA testing.
About one-fourth of those people had previously confessed, according to a project news release.
Wright's appeal, which began four years ago, is based on a 2002 state law that allows convicts to seek DNA testing that might establish their innocence.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has opposed the testing, arguing that the evidence was overwhelming and that the appeal was not filed in a timely manner, according to earlier reports.
Attempts to get comment from the district attorney's office were unsuccessful this morning.
From Wright's side have come denials that the blood-stained clothing was his, and questions about whether at least one of the men who testified should have been a suspect.
The Innocence Project isn't claiming to know if Wright is guilty or not, spokeswoman Alana Salzberg said this morning.
"At this point, it's just a matter of let's have the DNA testing and then we can move forward."