SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) — A man serving a life sentence for a 1994 rape and murder in Maine says he deserves a retrial because a new analysis shows that a sock used to gag the victim did not have his DNA on it.
An attorney for Foster Bates told the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday that the DNA of three other men was found on the sock. He said that raises reasonable doubt about Bates’ guilt in the death of his South Portland neighbor, Tammy Dickson.
But prosecutors say they have much more significant evidence, including the fact that Bates’ DNA was found inside Dickson.
Bates’ attorney says the two had a consensual sexual relationship, but Bates did not kill the woman.
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