Court to decide on convict's right to test DNA

[March 02, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- William Osborne, convicted in a brutal attack on a prostitute in Alaska 16 years ago, says a blue condom holds evidence of his innocence or confirmation of his guilt. Either way, he says, the Constitution gives him the right to test the genetic evidence to find out. The Supreme Court was to hear arguments Monday on Osborne's case and announcing whether it has accepted any new appeals.

More than 230 people have been exonerated based on DNA tests performed years after their convictions, according to the Innocence Project, a legal group that has sought genetic testing on behalf of hundreds of prison inmates and led the charge to free those who were wrongly convicted.

In many cases, eyewitnesses picked out the wrong man, often with the victim of one race incorrectly identifying someone of a different color. Among the exonerated were people who confessed to crimes, even though they were innocent.

The woman in Alaska was raped, beaten with an ax handle, shot in the head and left for dead in a snow bank near the Anchorage International Airport. The condom was found nearby.

The woman, who is white, identified Osborne, who is black, as one of her attackers. Another man also convicted in the attack has repeatedly incriminated him. Osborne himself admitted his guilt under oath to the parole board in 2004.

Osborne's lawyer passed up advanced DNA testing at the time of his trial, fearing it could conclusively link him to the crime.

The results of the case could be limited. Forty-four states and the federal government have laws that give convicts access to DNA testing. And more states are moving in that direction, the Innocence Project says.

Alaska has no DNA testing law, but its Court of Appeals has given people a path to follow to gain access to the evidence. It ruled Osborne did not meet the standards it set out.

The benefit to Osborne himself also is limited. He is awaiting sentencing for his role in a home invasion that occurred a few months after his parole in 2007.

If he wins his court case and the DNA in the condom is not his, he could have six years shaved off an expected 15-year prison term.

A decision is expected in spring.

The case is District Attorney's Office v. Osborne, 08-6.

[Associated Press; By MARK SHERMAN]

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