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Post by pumpkinpie on Nov 2, 2009 22:43:32 GMT -5
Judge dismisses case against Springsteen, Scott Updated: 10/28/2009 10:12 PM By: Kevyn Oakes and Danielle Bauman State District Judge Mike Lynch stuck by his word Wednesday afternoon. He dismissed defendants Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen after the Travis County District Attorney's Office said it was still not ready for trial. Lynch issued orders back in August for the prosecution to announce to the court their good faith determination of a jury trial date. The prosecution said Wednesday afternoon it knew Judge Lynch would not grant a continuance on the basis that it was still conducting DNA testing. The prosecution said it has not yet been able to identify the DNA donor and "see no other option but to dismiss the case."
Police arrested Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen in 1999 after they both confessed to the 1991 murders of four teenage girls. The girls were found bound, gagged and shot at the I Can't Believe it's Yogurt Shop in North Austin.
Both defendants said their confessions were coerced and improperly used to incriminate the other during their respective trials.
Two other men were arrested in connection to the murders, but those cases were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
In late June, Lynch stated that if the prosecution sought to delay the trial further, he would release the two remaining defendants from jail.
One day later, he released Scott and Springsteen under a $100,000 personal recognizance bond after attorneys argued new DNA evidence exonerated their clients.
Wednesday, the court granted the state's motion to dismiss each indictment for each defendant. Both defendants were also discharged from further bonds related to this case.
Police and the district attorney said they still believe Scott and Springsteen are guilty of killing 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and 17-year-olds Eliza Thomas and Jennifer Harbison.
News 8’s Russell Wilde has more on the dismissal of Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen.
A mother’s reaction
News 8’s Bob Robuck talks with Barbra Ayres-Wilson, the mother of two victims in the yogurt shop murders.
In a press conference after the case was dismissed, Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said her office planned to proceed, pending further investigation into the unknown DNA found at the scene.
"We are convinced that these that these men had something to do with this," Lehmberg said.
According to Lehmberg, there is no statute of limitations for murder, so the DA's office will continue the investigation with Scott and Springsteen as primary suspects in the case.
"We don't want to proceed because we are trying to avoid double jeopardy," Lehmberg said.
Lehmberg said more than 100 people have been tested with the new Y-STR profile method. Y-STR is a DNA test that looks only for male DNA or the Y-chromosome.
During a 2008 DNA testing, the state found an unknown male profile in the evidence from the crime. The DNA did not match any of the four suspects originally charged with the crime, including Springsteen and Scott.
The DA's office said the DNA comparisons have cost around $220,000, and there is no limit on the amount they will spend. They said they can use general or discretionary funds to continue the effort.
Currently, there is no Y-STR profile database to compile DNA samples for investigations.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo joined Lehmberg in the press conference. He said his sympathies go out to the victims' families.
Acevedo also advocated for more DNA testing in Travis County. He said that all criminal DNA should be obtained, no matter how small of a case, to prevent further instances like this.
Lehmberg said the families are sad but optimistic and strong.
The DA said the main problem in the investigation is not the DNA, but that the crime scene was contaminated with thousands of gallons of water.
The district attorney's office plans to prosecute again when it has more evidence.
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said they planned to proceed, pending further investigation.
Until then, however, Springsteen and Scott are "free to do whatever they want," Lehmberg said.
Springsteen's lawyer Joe James Sawyer said they were thankful to Lehmberg for her courage, and that there was no victory gained in the dismissal of these cases.
He said the primary question has not been answered and he hopes one day Travis County can see the true criminals found guilty.
"We have your DNA, sooner or later we will match your face to this DNA," Scott's lawyer Carlos Garcia said.
www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=257066
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Post by arizonavet on Dec 28, 2010 14:58:05 GMT -5
Pumpkin Pie...
These are two confessed accused murderers...released because the law was either so slow, or so bogged down...that they didn't bring them to court in a timely manner..
The judge had no choice....however,
Don't you have the slightest fear that they did what they admitted they did...
And they'll do it again?
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Post by happyhaddock on Dec 30, 2010 16:37:42 GMT -5
These are two confessed accused murderers... There were over 500 people who confessed to the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. They executed a man who did not confess. Therefore confessions are not reliable evidence. |
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Post by arizonavet on Jan 28, 2011 11:09:34 GMT -5
These are two confessed accused murderers... There were over 500 people who confessed to the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. They executed a man who did not confess. Therefore confessions are not reliable evidence. Neither confessions OR eye witnesses are totally infallible... One would have to have seen the trial to know ALL the evidence on Scott & Springsteen to make an intelligent decision... Twelve jurrors did just that. Accused co-conspiritor Maurice Pierce also tested (DNA) negative & was released... In 2010, he stabbed Austin police officer Frank Wilson to death... Now THIS travisty of justice bothers me. Amy Ayres, Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison, and Eliza Thomas.... Whoever their killers were....they are free today....nothing for society to be proud of. |
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Post by arizonavet on Jan 28, 2011 11:19:04 GMT -5
These are two confessed accused murderers... There were over 500 people who confessed to the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. They executed a man who did not confess. Therefore confessions are not reliable evidence. Happy....the man, Bruno Hauptmann, who was convicted & executed for the murder of 20 month old Charles Augustus Lindberg was caught spending the ransom money. And the ladder, used to remove the baby from the Lindberg home, came conclusively from Hauptmann's attic.... The ransom note was written by Hauptmann... Bruno Hauptmann was the poster child for executing a man who bashed in the head of a 20 month old baby of one of America's greatest hero's..... Just can't work up a real "feel-bad" for the monster. |
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Post by happyhaddock on Jan 28, 2011 22:18:46 GMT -5
Happy....the man, Bruno Hauptmann, who was convicted & executed for the murder of 20 month old Charles Augustus Lindberg was caught spending the ransom money. Yes, he had the money. What has that to do with the abduction? And the ladder, used to remove the baby from the Lindberg home, came conclusively from Hauptmann's attic.... No, the 'proof' was shoddy at best. The ransom note was written by Hauptmann... No evidence for that. People changed their testimony and lied him onto death row. The FBI confiscated a time card which showed he was at work during the abduction and destroyed it. His own lawyer wanted to get him convicted. Some 'justice'. |
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Post by arizonavet on Apr 20, 2011 15:47:47 GMT -5
Happy....the man, Bruno Hauptmann, who was convicted & executed for the murder of 20 month old Charles Augustus Lindberg was caught spending the ransom money. Yes, he had the money. What has that to do with the abduction?No, the 'proof' was shoddy at best. The ransom note was written by Hauptmann... No evidence for that. People changed their testimony and lied him onto death row. The FBI confiscated a time card which showed he was at work during the abduction and destroyed it. His own lawyer wanted to get him convicted. Some 'justice'. Incredable....you see no evidence value whatever in the fact that Bruno Hauptmann had a shoe-box filled with marked notes, given for the ransom of the baby? No value whatever that the ladder found at the kidnapping scene matched perfectly, wood cut out of Hauptmann's attic....saw marks, matching wood ends...ect? How did he get the ransom money? The FBI just exists to find poor German immigrants guilty of murdering a child, who are obviously innocent? |
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Post by happyhaddock on Apr 21, 2011 13:40:50 GMT -5
Incredable....you see no evidence value whatever in the fact that Bruno Hauptmann had a shoe-box filled with marked notes, given for the ransom of the baby? None at all. There's no evidence of a connection between the extortion and the kidnapping. Why did the maid commit suicide? No value whatever that the ladder found at the kidnapping scene matched perfectly, wood cut out of Hauptmann's attic....saw marks, matching wood ends...ect? We've seen such 'evidence' faked before. Ladders were lying all around the construction site. Why would a skilled carpenter need to make another one? Why was it so poorly made? Why would he use wood from his own house? How did he get the ransom money? Either he was the extortionist or got the money from him. The FBI just exists to find poor German immigrants guilty of murdering a child, who are obviously innocent? They've done worse. Much, much worse. |
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Post by blessed1 on May 31, 2011 22:26:10 GMT -5
just wantrd hello ans
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