North Carolina Prisoner Seeks Freedom

A three-judge panel in North Carolina is holding hearings this week to determine if Greg Taylor’s 17-year-old murder conviction should be tossed out based on evidence of innocence.

North Carolina is the only state in the country with an

Innocence Inquiry Commission

charged with reviewing claims of innocence from people convicted of crimes and determining if they deserve another hearing. The panel voted unanimously last year to refer Taylor’s case to a panel of three judges, the final step in the process. The judges are conducting hearings this week, and will decide whether Taylor’s attorney have proven his innocence by clear and convincing evidence.

Another man has allegedly confessed to committing the crime and no physical evidence ties Taylor or a co-defendant to the victim.

At today’s hearings, a crime scene expert testified that a substance found in Taylor’s truck after the 1991 crime was not human blood. Crime scene analysts testified incorrectly at Taylor’s trial that the substance was blood, according to today’s testimony. Further evidence shows that analysts conducted tests on the substance before Taylor’s trial to determine if it was blood but didn’t include the result in reports.

Taylor has testified for eight hours this week, explaining his whereabouts on the night of the crime and denying prosecutors’ accusations that he is lying about his memory of the night.

Read more

. (News & Observer, 02/10/10)

An editorial in the Salisbury Post today praised the work of the Innocence Inquiry Commission and urged North Carolinians to support efforts to overturn wrongful convictions in the state.

Read the full editorial here

.