Postconviction challenges. In 1986 `attorney filed an appeal contending the following:Bloodsworth mentioned the bloody rock because the police had one on the table next to him while they interrogated him; the terrible thing mentioned to friends was that he had failed to buy his wife a taco salad as he had promised; and police withheld information from defense attorneys relating to the possibility of another suspect.
The Maryland Court of Appeals overturned` conviction in July 1986 because of the withheld information. He was retried, and a jury convicted him a second time. This time Bloodsworth was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
After an appeal of the second conviction was denied, ` lawyer moved to have the evidence released for more sophisticated testing than was available at the time of trial. The prosecution agreed, and in April 1992 the victim's panties and shorts, a stick found near the murder scene, reference blood samples from Bloodsworth and the victim, and an autopsy slide were sent to Forensic Science Associates (FSA) for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing.
DNA results. The FSA report, issued on May 17,1993, stated that semen on the autopsy slide was insufficient for testing. It also stated that a small semen stain had been found on the panties.
The report indicated that the majority of DNA associated with the epithelial fraction had the same genotype as the semen due to the low level of epithelial cells present in the stain. It was an expected result, according to the report. Finally,the report concluded that ` DNA did not match any of the evidence received for testing. FSAdid, however, request a fresh sample of` blood for retesting in accord with questions about proper labeling on the original sample.
On June 3, 1993, FSA issued a second report that stated its findings regarding ` DNA were replicated and that he could not be responsible for the stain on the victim's underwear(see appendix for complete results).
Conclusion. On June 25, 1993, the FBI conducted its own test of the evidence and discovered the same results as FSA. In Maryland, new evidence can be presented no later than 1 year after the final appeal. Prosecutors joined a petition with ` attorneys to grant Bloodsworth a pardon. A Baltimore County circuit judge ordered Bloodsworth released from prison on June 28, 1993.Maryland's governor pardoned Bloodsworth in December 1993. Bloodsworth served almost 9 years of the second sentence, including 2 years on death row.