Mississippi prisoner exonerated of capital crime

Washington, May 5
Willie Jerome Manning, on death row for 21 years in the US state of Mississippi, has been released from one of the capital punishments he faces after a re-trial determined he did not commit the crime for which he was convicted.

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) reported on Monday that Manning is the 153rd prisoner to be exonerated of a capital crime, though he remains on death row for another case, according to Efe news agency.

Manning, a 46-year-old African-American, was acquitted of the murder of Emmoline Jimmerson, 90, and her daughter Alberta Jordan, 60. They were killed during an attempted robbery in January 1993.

In February 2015, the Mississippi Supreme Court authorised a re-trial of the case and prosecutors dropped their charges on grounds that the prosecution's case in the previous trial was based on false evidence.

However, Manning remains on death row for another double murder committed a month before the murders of Jimmerson and Jordan.

In December 1992, Manning was convicted of the murders of university students Jon Stecker, 19, and Tiffany Miller, 22.

The US Justice Department admitted in 2013 that the DNA testing of hair and ballistics presented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the trial "exceeded the limits of the science" and were not valid.

The court then suspended Manning's execution on May 7, 2013, minutes before it was scheduled to be carried out.

The court authorised the repetition of DNA testing, the results of which are pending.

Manning was 25 years old when he was arrested.

Mississippi has executed 21 prisoners since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.