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Arkansas Judge OKs Testing Of Evidence On Executed Inmate

Patricia Young, sister of executed inmate Ledell Lee (left), speaks to reporters during a press conference on Jan. 24 announcing the legal challenge to seek DNA testing that she argued could exonerate her brother.
Michael Hibblen
/
KUAR News

An Arkansas judge has approved an agreement that will allow new tests of fingerprint and DNA evidence that two groups say could exonerate a man executed in 2017.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen approved the agreement between the city of Jacksonville and the sister of Ledell Lee, who was executed for the 1993 slaying of Debra Reese.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Innocence Project had sued the city seeking the release of the evidence.

The agreement allows the DNA evidence to be tested by an independent lab and for the fingerprints to be uploaded into a national database.

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