St. Louis Man Hopes DNA Proves Innocence
ST. LOUIS - A 68-year-old St. Louis man serving a life sentence for the 1982 killing of a young mother and assaults on her two daughters returns to court Thursday in an effort to overturn his convictions.
Rodney Lee Lincoln's case was one of six chosen by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce in 2003 for further scrutiny and DNA testing.
Lincoln's lawyers from the Midwest Innocence Project say the subsequent genetic tests showing no male DNA on the murder weapons exonerate him in the death of JoAnn Tate.
But the prosecutor says Lincoln's convictions on charges of manslaughter and first-degree assault are valid. Joyce also points to eyewitness identifications by the Tate's daughters, who were then 7 and 4 years old.
No ruling is expected Thursday.