Death row inmate receives new trial following tests that revealed shocking discovery after 30 years
A death row inmate convicted of a 1992 murder has been granted a new trial after DNA testing done three decades after the crime revealing shocking results.
Since 1994, Christopher Barbour has been an inmate on Alabama's death row, convicted of killing Thelma Bishop Roberts in Montgomery.
Barbour, who is now in his mid-50s, initially confessed to helping another man sexually assault Roberts before killing her, however, he later recanted his confession.
According to AL.com, Barbour was homeless and living behind a mall at the time of Roberts' death, and he insisted his confession was coerced by police.
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Barbour maintained he was actually innocent, but after being found guilty he was handed the death sentence.
However, in 2021, testing of semen found on Roberts' body revealed that it did not belong to Barbour. It didn't match the other man allegedly involved in the assault, either.
Instead, the DNA test found that it belonged to Roberts' neighbor; a man who is now incarcerated for an unrelated murder.
Barbour's attorneys have argued that the inmate's innocence is 'patently clear', and in a civil case Barbour claimed his rights had been violated when the case first went to court.
Chief U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks ruled on the filing last week, and declared that Barbour must be granted a new trial.
Marks claimed the conviction had been tainted because prosecutors failed to turn over bench notes from the initial forensics report which found that neither Barbour or the other alleged rapist were the source of the DNA.
Marks argued that the information could have cast doubt on Barbour’s confession, which was used as the primary evidence against him when his case went to trial.
The judge wrote: "Barbour has shown that the prosecution’s knowing use of false evidence may have had an effect on the outcome of the trial."
Marks did not rule on Barbour's claim of innocence, but explained the new trial will now allow him to 'argue as much to a jury'.
The judge previously noted the new DNA results are 'powerful evidence that Barbour’s confession is false, and that Mrs. Roberts’ murder did not occur as the prosecution presented it at trial'.
Marks has given the state 90 days to begin preparations for a new trial, though the state has argued that the DNA results do not mean Barbour is innocent of Roberts' murder.
A spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has announced plans to appeal Marks' ruling.
Emily Brown