Limits of South Dakota law on new trials for DNA evidence debated at state Supreme Court

An impending South Dakota Supreme Court decision stands between a man who’s spent 42 years in prison for a double murder and his chance to convince a jury he never should’ve been there. The decision and underlying case will offer guidance on how judges are meant to apply a South Dakota law. The statute lets them grant a new trial if new DNA evidence “would result in acquittal” when considered alongside “all other evidence” in a case. A Rapid City judge granted 84-year-old George Luna a new trial based on that 2009 law. The Attorney General’s Office appealed, setting up Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing in Pierre. Tony Mangan, spokesman for the attorney general, told South Dakota Searchlight that, “to the best of our knowledge,” Luna is the only person to have been granted a new trial based on that law.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.