Attorneys for a death row inmate convicted of a quadruple murder in Chino Hills say they’ve obtained new evidence that could prove the man’s innocence and are asking Gov. Jerry Brown to appoint a special master to reinvestigate the case.
Kevin Cooper has long fought his conviction for the slayings of three family members and a young boy in 1983, claiming that law enforcement planted evidence and ignored statements by witnesses pointing to alternate suspects in the killings.
His legal saga has attracted interest from judges and former prosecutors, including U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, who’ve called on Brown to allow for advanced DNA testing of evidence in the case.
Cooper’s supporters, some of whom were spurred to action by a New York Times article about the case in May, have pointed to conflicting evidence in the case, including early witness statements that the attack was carried out by three white or Latino men. Cooper, now 60, is black.
Read the full story at LATimes.com.