Results of a second round of DNA testing in the state's murder case against Curtis Edward McCarty should be in the court's hands next week.
At a status conference hearing Friday morning before Oklahoma County District Judge Twyla Mason Gray, attorneys indicated the lab said results would be rushed back to Oklahoma by Wednesday.
The test is being conducted on fingernail clippings belonging to Pamela Kaye Willis, who was found dead in a friend's house in December of 1982, having been raped and murdered.
DNA EVIDENCE
DNA testing conducted a few years ago on semen found on Willis' body was not a match to McCarty. Prosecutors came across missing evidence back in February, including a bloody footprint and the clippings. An analysis of the footprint did not match McCarty, either.
Earlier this week, Judge Gray held an emergency hearing where McCarty was informed DNA testing on the clippings found two male components; however, the major male component was not his. The lab is conducting a second test on the minor male component.
Regardless of the results, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said he intends to go forward with the case.
DISMISSAL?
McCarty's attorney Perry Hudson said if the test result comes back negative, he will urge the judge to dismiss the case.
"We have semen that is not a match to McCarty. We have a footprint that is not a match to McCarty. We have a major male component of the fingernail clippings that is not a match to McCarty. If this other test is not a match to McCarty, at what point does the dog let go of the bone?" Hudson said.
A hearing is set for May 10, at which time the results of the second DNA test are expected. " Scott Cooper
