11/14/08 (FL):
Footprint Experts Key to Possible Retrial
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Although found guilty of murder more than two years ago, Robert Austin Jr. still hasn't been sentenced and still doesn't know if a new trial is in his future. During a recent hearing, Austin listened as lawyers debated whether he should be granted a new trial in the stabbing death of 79-year-old Anna Houston.
Circuit Judge Susan Roberts did not make a ruling but took the request under advisement.
Houston was found May 7, 1984, stabbed to death inside her apartment at the WestLake housing project in Lakeland, FL.
For years, there were no arrests in the case. A front-page story published Jan. 4, 2000, in The Ledger about her death began to generate tips pointing to Austin who was 15 years old at the time of the killing and had been living nearby with his parents.
Investigators got a search warrant to obtain a blood sample from Austin, who has been serving a prison sentence for drug charges. According to the Department of Corrections Web site, he is scheduled to be released Nov. 19, 2015. Testing showed his blood matched blood found in Houston's apartment.
Prosecutors said Austin was cut as Houston fought for her life.
A jury convicted Austin on May 19, 2006, of first-degree murder in Houston's slaying.
The defense contended that a neighbor of Houston's, Archie Richey, was the killer. Richey is now dead. Toward the end of the trial, Austin's lawyer, Robert Gray, discovered among other bags of evidence a pair of white and blue, size 13 Nike shoes belonging to Richey. The defense have now argued that Austin should be granted a new trial because of evidence found during his previous trial.
Gray said he was not made aware that Richey's shoes were being held in evidence.
Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace said the shoes were listed in documents that catalogue evidence in the murder case.
In 2006, Gray requested that the shoes be analyzed for traces of blood and against shoeprints left in Houston's apartment. Roberts postponed imposing Austin's mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder so an evidentiary hearing could be held.
Friday's hearing took many months to set up because of various scheduling conflicts.
A defense expert on footwear impression evidence testified that the tread pattern, size and other features of Richey's shoes were consistent with a shoeprint in the kitchen where Houston's body was found. However, the defense expert could not say the shoes were an exact match to the shoeprint.
A prosecution expert testified the tread design on Richey's shoes was very common and used by manufacturers other than Nike, and could be similar to hundreds of thousands of other shoes.
Another expert witness for the prosecution tested the shoes for traces of blood and did not find any blood.
The court will make its decision soon.
With thanks, The Ledger, © 2008
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