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Willie Jerome "Fly" Manning (born June 12, 1968) is on death row at Mississippi State Penitentiary, USA, with two death sentences for a conviction of double murder (Steckler-Miller murders). He was previously also convicted and sentenced to death for a second double murder (Jimmerson-Jordan murders), but the State Supreme Court overturned this verdict and ordered a new trial; the charges against him for these murders were dropped. ==First case (Steckler-Miller murders)== On May 7, 2013, Manning came within hours of being executed for the 1992 murders of two college students. Manning had requested DNA testing and fingerprint comparison, as he had done unsuccessfully several times previously.〔Campbell Robertson, "With Hours to Go, Execution Is Postponed", May 7, 2013, ().〕 In a 5:4 ruling on April 25, 2013 the Mississippi Supreme Court denied him the right to pursue these.〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, ().〕 A rape kit, and other physical evidence analysed soon after the murders, had tested negative for biological residue suitable for DNA testing. The Innocence Project countered that modern testing can reveal biological evidence undetected by earlier methods; and DNA testing had exonerated even prisoners with seemingly strong evidence against them.〔Campbell Robertson, "With Hours to Go, Execution Is Postponed", May 7, 2013, ().〕 Mississippians Educating for Smart Justice added that physical evidence from the murder scene (including hair from both victims’ hands, scrapings from under their nails, and hair fragments from the car) would probably identify the murderer. 〔Jimmie E Gates and Emily Lane, FBI, Justice Department cite errors in Manning murder trial, The Clarion-Ledger, May 3 2013, ()〕 Similarly, one of the dissenting judges, Justice James W. Kitchens, wrote “whatever potential harm the denial seeks to avert is surely outweighed by the benefits of ensuring justice by the scientific analysis of all the trace evidence."〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi inmate's bid for DNA testing is denied with Tuesday execution set," New York Times, May 3, 2013, p. A11, ()〕 Approximately four hours before the scheduled time of execution on May 7, the same Court ruled 8:1 to grant Manning a stay of execution. The judges gave no reason for this decision, but the US Department of Justice had sent lawyers and officials three letters in the preceding five days, stating that various aspects of FBI expert hair and ballistics testimony at Manning’s trial had been “erroneous”.〔Campbell Robertson, "With Hours to Go, Execution Is Postponed", May 7, 2013, ().〕 Federal officials scrutinized Manning’s case as part of a wider review of the FBI’s analysis of scientific evidence in thousands of violent crimes in the 1980s and 1990s; this review was intended to correct errors in forensic hair examinations before 2000."〔Spencer H. Hsu, "Justice Dept. admits flaws in forensic testimony in Mississippi death-row case," Washington Post, May 3 2013, ().〕 On July 25, 2013, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed its earlier 5-4 ruling preventing the testing of the fingerprints and DNA evidence. The new ruling, which was unanimous, allowed Manning to request analysis of both.〔"DNA test granted for Miss. death row inmate," Jackson Clarion-Ledger, July 25, 2013,()〕 The near-execution arose from Manning’s conviction for the murders of two Mississippi State University students, Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. The students were found shot to death in December 1992 just outside Starkville, Mississippi. The evidence suggested that Miller had been sexually assaulted,〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, ()〕 and that Steckler had been run over by a car. 〔R.L.Nave, Jackson Free Press, May 3, 2013, "Is Miss. About to 'Lynch' an Innocent Man?"().〕 Outside the fraternity house where Steckler and Miller had been earlier, a car was burglarized that night.〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, ().〕 According to prosecutors the two students interrupted the burglary, and were then forced into Miller’s car, and were robbed and shot.〔Emily Lane (Reuters), "Miss. execution due Tuesday, FBI claim testimony 'invalid'" ()〕 Manning was implicated after witnesses told the police that he was trying to sell items from the burglarized car.〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, ().〕 Manning said that he did not commit the murders, and that he was at a club on the night of the murders."〔R.L.Nave, "Is Miss. About to 'Lynch' an Innocent Man?" Jackson Free Press, May 3, 2013, ().〕 He stated that the property he was selling was stolen by someone he did not know.〔Spencer Hsu, "Justice dept. admits flaws in forensic testimony in Mississippi death-row case," Washington Post, May 3, 2013, ().〕 He pointed out that multiple fingerprints found in Miller's car matched neither him nor the two victims.〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi inmate's bid for DNA testing is denied with Tuesday execution set," New York Times, May 3, 2013, p. A11, ()〕 He said that at his trial the prosecutor, Forrest Allgood, illegally dismissed as potential jurors African Americans who read African American magazines, on the grounds that these were liberal publications."〔R.L.Nave, "Is Miss. About to 'Lynch' an Innocent Man?" Jackson Free Press, May 3, 2013, ().〕 Manning's lawyers argued that some of the trial witness testimony contradicted known facts. They also contended that Manning’s former girlfriend, a key witness, was granted a favorable plea deal on fraud charges, in addition to almost $18,000, to reward her for testifying for the prosecution, arrangements which were not fully disclosed to the trial jury."〔Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, ().〕 Manning's lawyers alleged that she also tried to implicate Manning when she asked him leading questions that were secretly recorded by officials and not disclosed to defense attorneys."〔Andrew Cohen, "A Ghost of Mississippi: The Willie Manning Capital Case", May 2, 2013, ().〕 Two of the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice letters, sent shortly before Manning's scheduled execution, addressed issues arising from FBI expert hair testimony at Manning’s trial. One letter stated that an FBI examiner had misrepresented his findings about hair fibers,〔Andrew Cohen, Feds Acknowledge Scientific Errors in Testimony in Willie Manning Case, The Atlantic, May 6, 2013, ()〕 found in Miller’s car, when he concluded that the hair came from an African American. The two victims were white, but Manning is black. This hair sample was the only physical evidence that connected Manning to the murder scene. The authorities stated, "We have determined that the microscopic hair comparison analysis testimony or laboratory report presented in this case included statements that exceeded the limits of science and was, therefore, invalid."〔Emily Lane, Reuters, "Miss. execution due Tuesday, FBI claim testimony 'invalid'," Chicago Tribune, May 6 2013, ().〕 The third Department of Justice letter focused on ballistics testimony at the trial. A witness, Manning’s former girlfriend, said she had once seen Manning firing a gun into a tree. The F.B.I. firearms expert testified that bullets found in the tree had been fired from the same gun as the bullets used in the murders. However, this testimony was later discredited. The Department of Justice letter stated: “The science regarding firearms examinations does not permit examiner testimony that a specific gun fired a specific bullet to the exclusion of all other guns in the world. The examiner could testify to that information, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, but not absolutely.〔Campbell Robertson, "With hours to go, execution is postponed," New York Times, May 7 2013, ().〕 He added, "As with any process involving human judgment, claims of infallibility or impossibility of error are not supported by scientific standards."〔Howard Koplowitz, "Willie Jerome Manning, Mississippi Death Row Inmate, Granted Last-Minute Stay Of Execution," International Business Times, May 7 2013, ().〕 Manning’s lawyers stated "A finding by the circuit court that Manning's conviction in the Brooksville Gardens case (murders ) was procured on the basis of false testimony would also be relevant to the claims in this case (the college students), because it would show a pattern of reliance on testimony procured unfairly.".〔Jack Elliott Jr, The Associated Press, "Willie Jerome Manning opposes setting of execution date," DJournal, April 3 2013, ()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Willie Jerome Manning」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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