A Master Sergeant has been to trial three times and for him, the third time involved DNA that wasn’t available the first two times. A 52-year-old soldier was recalled to active service specifically to face charges in a military court. He was originally charged with raping and murdering Kathryn Eastburn and then killing her two young daughters reports a New York City Criminal Lawyer.
The soldier was originally convicted of these horrible crimes but a North Carolina Supreme Court ordered that he receive another trial due to weak testimony in the first trial. The second trial ended din 1989 and the soldier was acquitted report New York City Criminal Lawyers.
Since that time, DNA identification technology has improved and tests linked the soldier to the woman’s body. He could not face a third trial according to the state due to the rules of double jeopardy. However, he could face a military jury for the crime, which occurred while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. And indeed, the military took the case in 2006 after a cold-case detective at Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office had the woman’s DNA tested against that of the soldiers. The verdict on Thursday caused death penalty advocates to speak out regarding the innocence list maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center. New York Criminal Lawyers indicate that this soldier’s sentence hearing will start on soon.
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