Innocence Project Advocates for DNA Testing in PA Supreme Court

This morning in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Innocence Project Staff Attorney Nina Morrison will argue that client Anthony Wright should get DNA testing that could prove his innocence of a 1993 murder he says he didn’t commit.

In 2002, Pennsylvania enacted a law that allows convicted people to seek DNA testing to prove their innocence. The law applies to people convicted before 1995 or cases where DNA testing was not previously conducted, and the law says courts that are weighing requests for testing should presume that the DNA testing would be exculpatory (meaning the results would favor the defendant). However, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has opposed Anthony Wright’s efforts to secure DNA testing for the last four years.

“The District Attorney does not dispute that DNA testing could prove Anthony Wright’s innocence. Testing would be conducted at no cost to the state and could be completed in a matter of weeks,” said Morrison.

Read more on the Wright case and today’s arguments here

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Media coverage of the case:

Philadelphia Inquirer – April 14, 2009