And were following a special court hearing held today in Centre County for a State College man who was convicted of murder back in the 1980’s.
Here is video of the man walking into court this afternoon who spent 40 years in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit.
Now at the heart of this new appeal is whether prosecutors withheld any crucial evidence in this case.
Gary Sinderson has been following this story and joins us with the latest
“If you’re convicted, found guilty of a felony, it can be difficult to overturn. If the felony is a murder, much more difficult to reverse and if you’re trying to overturn a murder conviction some 40 years later not impossible, but rarely done”
“Subu how are ya? Ok”
Subraymanyam Vedam returning to the Centre County Courthouse Thursday where he was first convicted of first degree murder in 1983, and then convicted again in 1988, in the shooting death of Thomas Kinser.
The conviction based on circumstantial evidence, a murder weapon was never found Vedam back now for a post conviction relief act hearing after his legal team found an FBI ballistics report, they say was hidden from Vedam’s
original trial attorneys.
The report raises questions about whether it was a 25 caliber bullet that killed Kinser, which the prosecution claimed, or was it actually a smaller caliber bullet. Will the new ballistic information be enough to free Vedam?
“While we are hopeful justice will finally prevail and Subu will be freed, we are deeply troubled that it took 42 years for this evidence to finally surface”
At the hearing, Dr. Ann Ross, who specializes in forensic anthropology, testifies for Vedam saying the prosecutors got it wrong, that their evidence doesn’t”t support the deadly shot coming from a 25 caliber handgun.
Vedam’s attorney legal team argues its tied to a bigger question. Was he denied a fair trial?
“Ultimately its about with this analysis in hand did he get a fair trial in 1988. Was there a probability that the jury would of come out differently if his lawyers in 1988 had this exculpatory evidence”
The hearing for Subramanyam Vedam resumes Friday.