DNA wins death row inmate new trial
Sentenced to death as teen
GRETNA, Louisiana (AP) -- A man sentenced to die five years ago, while still a teenager, was granted a new trial Thursday after his lawyers linked DNA on the killer's ski mask to another man.
Defense lawyers have argued for more than a year that DNA on the mask, shirt and glove worn by the gunman matched a man now in prison -- not Ryan Matthews.
Matthews was 17 when he was convicted and sentenced to death in the killing of a suburban New Orleans grocer who was shot four times in a 1997 robbery at his store. Matthews has been on death row since 1999.
His lawyers predicted that prosecutors will eventually drop all charges.
"He's entirely innocent," defense lawyer Billy Sothern said. "He had never been to that store and doesn't even know where that store is."
District Attorney Paul Connick issued a statement Wednesday saying he would agree to a new trial because of the DNA evidence. He was not in court Thursday when Judge Henry Sullivan granted the new trial.
"I'm glad the district attorney has decided to do the right thing," said Matthews' mother, Pauline. "It's really hard knowing that they're planning to execute your child."
Matthews' attorneys have identified Rondell Love as the likely killer. In addition to the DNA match, lawyers say Love bragged to a fellow inmate about the killing while serving a 20-year manslaughter sentence in another slaying.
Lawyers said Matthews' case will likely come up in arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court later this year, when justices hear arguments over whether imposing the death penalty against juveniles should be banned.
Lawyers in that case have argued that, under the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishments," minors should not face capital punishment because they lack maturity.
The Supreme Court has already banned the death penalty for defendants younger than 16.
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