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For what is thought to be the first time in U.S. legal history, DNA testing is being conducted that has the potential to exonerate a man who has already been executed. Ellis Wayne Felker, sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Evelyn Joy Ludlum, maintained his claim of innocence until his execution on November 14, 1996. New tests are now being performed on DNA evidence that was not tested prior to his execution. Any results indicating Felker’s innocence will prove vital to the national debate over the integrity and morality of the death penalty.The evidence used against Felker in his trial was largely circumstantial. The most critical piece of evidence in support of the prosecution’s case was a hair specimen found on Ludlum’s clothing. The analysis of this specimen was conducted through a highly subjective procedure in which the technician looked for similarities to Felkner’s hair. Weeks before Felker’s execution, his lawyers exercised the Georgia Open Records Act to gain access to the Prosecution’s files on the case. Examination of the files revealed new evidence, including a police rape evidence kit, scrapings from beneath Ludlum’s fingernails, and the clothing worn by Ludlum at the time she was murdered. This evidence however, was never subjected to DNA testing.

 

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