Roger K. Coleman, who was put to death for the 1981 rape and murder of his sister-in-law, could become the first condemned prisoner cleared posthumously through DNA testing.
In an unprecedented step for a U.S. elected official, Virginia Governor Mark Warner this week asked for the retesting of biological evidence used against Coleman, who denied the crime to the end.
The move is being hailed by death penalty opponents and those seeking a broader examination of evidence linked to death row inmates, using DNA technology.
'If found to be innocent, this would be the first DNA-based post- execution exoneration, which would radically alter the political landscape,' said Edwin Colfax, director of the Death Penalty Education Project at Northwestern University outside Chicago.
'If, by chance, testing confirms Coleman's guilt, prosecutors should be reminded of the fact that they shouldn't be afraid of forensic testing.'
The tests are being carried out by a laboratory in Toronto, Canada. The evidence was stored for years at a California DNA laboratory by forensic scientist Edward Blake, who tested the biological evidence during Coleman's appeal process.
The original DNA testing in 1990 showed that evidence taken from the victim matched DNA shared by Coleman and 2 per cent of the Caucasian and African-American populations.
Warner said that Coleman's case was an 'extraordinarily unique circumstance, where technology has advanced significantly and can be applied in the case of someone who consistently maintained his innocence until execution'.
Warner hopes to have the results before he ends his term on January 14. In November, he cited the inadvertent destruction of DNA evidence in staying the execution of a death row inmate.
Abe Bronowitz, director of Florida-based Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, welcomed Warner's decision but said it raises questions about the integrity of the U.S. criminal justice system.
'I believe we're going to find out we executed an innocent man,' Bronowitz said. 'If we recognize DNA only factors into a small number of cases, what about those where there's no evidence to test?'
Richard Dieter, director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Centre, urged higher standards for evidence in the criminal justice system.
'If there's a way to check for mistakes, we should do it,' said Dieter, adding that in the Coleman case a DNA test should have been done years ago. 'This will point out the dangers of ignoring problems.'
Meanwhile, New Jersey lawmakers started 2006 by passing legislation to suspend the state's death penalty for a year. Acting Governor Richard J. Codey has promised to sign the measure into law once the full State Assembly votes on it early next week, The New York Times reported.
The review of the Coleman case and the New Jersey moratorium come as growing questions about capital punishment have eroded popular support.
A national opinion poll in October showed that the percentage of Americans in favour of the death penalty in some circumstances had dropped by one fifth, from 80 per cent in 1994 to 64 per cent, still an overwhelming majority.
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