Darnell Williams v. State of Indiana. This order, issued 5/21/04, is signed by Chief Justice Shepard. Dickson, Sullivan and Rucker, JJ., concur. Boehm, J., concurs in result with separate opinion.
The Court's order was reported in an AP story Friday (5/21/04) published in the Munster Times. A quote:
The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday set a new execution date for Darnell Williams, saying DNA tests in his case were inconclusive and did not undermine "other overwhelming evidence" of his guilt in the shooting deaths of a Lake County couple.A number of other papers - Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Chicago Tribune, carried the same AP story.
[Update 5/25/04] This editorial today in the Indianapolis Star begins:
The Indiana Supreme Court's decision to dismiss DNA test results in the Darnell Williams death penalty case is disturbing. In setting an execution date of July 9, the court found little value in DNA tests of blood samples found on Williams' shorts after he was arrested for the 1986 murders of Gary residents John and Henrietta Rease.Posted by Marcia Oddi at May 24, 2004 02:24 PM