Man Convicted of Murder in 1993 Will Get a New Trial After Key Evidence Called Into Question

A man convicted of murder in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison was granted a new trial by a Massachusetts judge last week, as the validity of key pieces of evidence used to convict him has been called into question. Now, Thomas Rosa’s attorneys are calling on prosecutors to drop charges against him altogether.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Michael Ricciuti issued an order on Wednesday that vacates Rosa’s convictions for the 1985 killing of Gwendolyn Taylor, who was 18 years old at the time of her death, court documents show. Rosa has been tried three separate times for the crime and maintained his innocence through the decades. The first trial ended in a hung jury, and a conviction reached in the second was overturned because of egregious conduct by the Massachusetts Commonwealth, his attorneys said. A third trial led to the conviction that was vacated last week. Now 62, Rosa was incarcerated for 34 years.

In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said, “We assented to the motion for a new trial based upon the relevant information. We are in the process of reviewing the justice’s ruling and will make a decision at a future date.”

Read the source article at CBS News