After 16 years on death row, Rudolph Holton stepped...
After 16 years on death row, Rudolph Holton stepped out from a prison's razor wire fences
After 16 years on death row, Rudolph Holton stepped out from a prison's razor wire fences.
Prosecutor Mark Ober had announced in Tampa that Holton would not face a new trial.
"Due to the unreliability of witness testimony and the lack of physical evidence, the state of Florida cannot proceed to trial. I am not saying loud and clear that Rudolph Holton is innocent, I am saying we cannot prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" Ober wrote in a document filed in Florida Circuit Court.
Holton, now 49, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder and rape of 17-year-old Katrina Graddy. DNA evidence last year cast doubt on Holton's guilt, and key prosecution witnesses recently admitted lying about seeing Holton with Graddy the night she died. Another key prosecution witness, a jailhouse informant who testified that Holton confessed to the crime, also admitted lying on the witness stand.
Because of that error, the state Supreme Court ruled in December that Holton deserved a new trial, upholding a November 2001 order by Circuit Judge Daniel Perry.
Prosecutor Mark Ober had announced in Tampa that Holton would not face a new trial.
"Due to the unreliability of witness testimony and the lack of physical evidence, the state of Florida cannot proceed to trial. I am not saying loud and clear that Rudolph Holton is innocent, I am saying we cannot prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" Ober wrote in a document filed in Florida Circuit Court.
Holton, now 49, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder and rape of 17-year-old Katrina Graddy. DNA evidence last year cast doubt on Holton's guilt, and key prosecution witnesses recently admitted lying about seeing Holton with Graddy the night she died. Another key prosecution witness, a jailhouse informant who testified that Holton confessed to the crime, also admitted lying on the witness stand.
Because of that error, the state Supreme Court ruled in December that Holton deserved a new trial, upholding a November 2001 order by Circuit Judge Daniel Perry.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Associated Press, 25/01/2003)