Monday, June 8, 2015

Bulletin: Donnis George Musgrove: Alabama; His fate is in the hands of a federal judge after state prosecutors argue that he hasn't proven his claims of innocence and waited too long to raise other issues on appeal. (0ne of his allegations is that police planted ballistics evidence); He is trying to become the third inmate freed this year from Alabama's death row.

"A prisoner who is trying to become the third inmate freed this year from Alabama's death row hasn't proven his claims of innocence and waited too long to raise other issues on appeal, state prosecutors told a federal judge Monday. The state attorney general's office asked U.S. District Judge David Proctor to reject an appeal by , who claims he was wrongly convicted in the fatal shooting of Coy Eugene Barron in 1986. Musgrove, 66, contends he is innocent and has wrongly spent nearly 30 years on death row. But prosecutors filed court rejecting his claims, including allegations of numerous errors during his trial. Those are a faulty eyewitness identification; ballistics evidence planted by police; and an ineffective defense lawyer. In each instance, prosecutors argued, Musgrove either failed to raise the issues or waited too long to make new arguments......... Two other inmates have been released from Alabama's death row since early April after winning appeals. One of them, Anthony Ray Hinton, was tried by the same prosecutor and judge who handled Musgrove's case.........A state judge who represented Rogers as a defense lawyer during his joint trial with Musgrove has said he believes the men were innocent, and that he hopes the federal judge reviewing the case corrects the error."
 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/prosecutor-disputes-innocence-claims-death-row-inmate-31619814