ROXBURY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts judge has thrown out a double murder conviction after evidence indicated another man is the likely culprit.
Ronald Qualls was convicted of murder in the 1992 deaths of Roosevelt Price and Ronald Price.
The Price brothers had an argument with Qualls and another man, Junior Williams, the night of their deaths, according to court records.
Prosecutors worked with the Boston College Innocence Program to argue that the conviction should be vacated based on an identification of the killer from Roosevelt Price, The Boston Globe reported.
The victim told officers that the shooter was a man named Junior Williams, who was arrested with blood on this sweatshirt and released two hours after the murders.
Forensic testing in 1992 determined that the blood on the confiscated sweatshirt was type B, which matched the Price brothers and Williams.
DNA testing later revealed there were blood drops that match the DNA profile of Roosevelt Price.
According to the joint motion filed, “the only plausible explanation for how (Roosevelt's) blood landed on Williams’ sweatshirt was if Williams was standing in close proximity to Tony during the shooting.”
The motion also states that authorities focused on Qualls and built a case on identifications from "eyewitnesses who had lengthy criminal records and pending cases."
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christine M. Roach vacated the convictions but did not grant Qualls release. Qualls has been in custody since at least Nov. 10, 1992.
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