(Reuters) - The Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a man on Death Row for 28 years for the abduction, rape and murder of a filling station attendant, ordering that he be given a new trial after doubts were raised about scientific evidence in the case.
Roy Swafford, 66, came within a few hours of execution in 1990 before a court-ordered stay kept him from Florida's electric chair. Thursday's ruling vacated his rape and murder convictions and his death sentence.
Swafford's attorney, Terri Backhus, said the state has 15 days to ask the Supreme Court for a rehearing before the case is sent back to the 7th Circuit in Daytona Beach. Prosecutors in Volusia county will then have to decide whether or not to go ahead with a new trial.
"The case was weak to start with. It was highly circumstantial," said Backhus. "The Supreme Court decision was pretty explicit. You can see how troubled they were with the evidence."
Backhus could seek a bond hearing while he awaits trial but she said Swafford faced other legal issues, including an escape conviction that would likely keep him in jail for the time being.
The high court, in a 5-2 decision, accepted Swafford's argument that newly discovered evidence, indicating no seminal fluid was found in the victim's body, created doubt that he was the killer. The court also agreed with his evidence disputing how a pistol used in the murder was linked to him.
Source: Reuters, November 10, 2013
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