State: Inmate pins hopes on new test

Inmate pins hopes on new test

Convicted killer Amos Lee King Jr. is banking on a refined DNA technique to spare his life.

By KELLEY BENHAM, Times Staff Writer

Amos Lee King Jr.'s latest grasp at survival hinges on DNA testing technology that his attorneys say most defendants, lawyers and judges are just beginning to understand.

Gov. Jeb Bush granted King a reprieve -- his sixth -- less than an hour before he was to die by lethal injection Monday for the rape and murder of an elderly Tarpon Springs woman 25 years ago.

Bush did what the Flordia Supreme Court would not do. He stopped the execution so new tests could be performed using previously untested genetic material and previously unavailable technology.

"In an abundance of caution, as should be the case in every one of these cases, we delayed action," Bush said Tuesday. "I did so with real concern for the family members of the victim, who I talked to last night. They were legitimately very hurt by this and I feel horrible for them."

King's newest attorney, Barry Scheck, met with the governor's assistant general counsel in the last hours before the execution was to take place.

Scheck is a DNA expert and co-director of the nonprofit Innocence Project, which has used DNA evidence to exonerate 116 inmates. King has always claimed he did not kill 68-year-old Natalie Brady, who was raped, stabbed, beaten and choked in 1977.

Crime scene evidence was DNA-tested in 2001, but Scheck said new technology allows testing of previously unsuitable material and improves the likelihood of a conclusive result.

"These are cutting edge tests," he said. "Some of them are relatively unknown."

Hairs, fingernail scrapings and ambulance sheets will be tested using a number of different techniques.

Four hairs were recovered from the crime scene, but only one was suitable for the testing method used and the results were inconclusive.

The new technology will allow testing of the other three hairs, because it can be used on smaller samples and on hairs that lack a root.

The new technology tests DNA from the cell mitochondrion, a tiny compartment in human cells. The older, more common test examines DNA from the cell nucleus. Because mitochondrial DNA is found in greater numbers in a cell, more are likely to survive contamination in cases where evidence is years old or only small amounts of evidence are available.

Fingernail scrapings yielded no results before because tests could not isolate the attacker's DNA from Brady's. The scrapings will be examined using a procedure that isolates DNA containing the Y-chromosome, which occurs only in men.

Tests on pubic hairs and on sheets will try to locate new semen samples for DNA testing. Original semen samples from the crime scene have been lost, but the blood type from those samples matched King's.

The night Brady was killed, King escaped from a correctional center near her home. He was later caught trying to sneak back in and fought with a correctional officer, stabbing him 24 times.

The blood typing was the only biological evidence against King presented at his trial. Witnesses also testified that the knife he used to stab a prison guard came from Brady's kitchen and that he had blood on his pants, which were lost.

The tests will be conducted at private labs chosen in consultation with the governor's office, Scheck said. Results are due within 30 days. If the results don't help King's case, his execution will be rescheduled. A tentative date has not been set, contrary to information released by the Department of Corrections on Monday.

King has no appeals pending in state or federal court. But his attorneys said a number of issues could justify future appeals.

"We're going to continue to fight for Amos until the last," said his lawyer Peter Cannon.

For Brady's family, having traveled to Florida State Prison more than once to see King die, Monday's stay seemed especially cruel because it came so late.

"You have no idea how grueling, painful, exhausting and horrible it was," said Brady's niece, Monica Watson, who traveled to Starke from Georgia to wait with two sisters for the execution that never happened. "Hopefully, the next time will be fruitful."

-- Times staff writer Alisa Ulferts contributed to this report.