New trial for man 20 years on death row

A judge has ordered a new trial for a man who spent 20 years on death row for a murder he denies committing

Jack Mazzan, 54, sentenced to death in 1980 for stabbing to death Richard Minor, was released last year when the state Supreme Court in Reno, Nevada, overturned his conviction, saying prosecutors withheld information about other possible suspects.

They included alleged drug-dealers who hadn’t been paid for drugs they gave Minor, defence lawyers said.

District Judge Peter Breen said today the new trial would be scheduled for some time next year. He rejected Mazzan’s request to dismiss the case, but granted a defence motion to keep out some DNA evidence until it could be tested.

Mazzan’s lawyers argued that much of the evidence has been lost or tainted since his conviction, including flecks of blood found on Mazzan’s shoes.

They said the DNA evidence should have been kept frozen in a dry area instead of in a courthouse vault that was susceptible to flooding and leaky pipes.

Prosecutor Tom Barb agreed the evidence "has degraded over time", but said it was still reliable.