Larry Peterson | Death Penalty Information Center

Entries tagged with “Larry Peterson

Issues

Aug 02, 2005

Convictions Overturned In Pennsylvania and New Jersery through DNA Testing

Thomas Doswell of Pennsylvania and Larry Peterson of New Jersey recent­ly had their con­vic­tions over­turned as a direct result of DNA test­ing. Each defen­dant had serverd 18 years in prison. In Peterson’s case, the pros­e­cu­tion had sought the death penal­ty but the jury could not agree and he was sen­tenced to life. His case marked the first time a New Jersey court has over­turned a con­vic­tion because of DNA evi­dence. Both rever­sals stemmed from the work of attorneys…

Issues

Apr 29, 2005

DNA Evidence May Lead to Exoneration in Former Capital Case

Results from DNA test­ing may soon lead to the exon­er­a­tion of Larry Peterson in New Jersey. He would become the first per­son in the state to be cleared of a homi­cide through DNA evi­dence. Peterson was con­vict­ed of a rape and mur­der that occurred in 1987. For the past 10 years, Peterson tried to have DNA evi­dence from his case test­ed. At his orig­i­nal tri­al in which he faced the pos­si­bil­i­ty of a death sen­tence, the pros­e­cu­tion main­tained that hairs from the crime scene…