A man who is in prison for the rape and murder of a grandmother in Rhode Island back in 1999 is trying to get a new trial. He says the police put DNA evidence there to make him look guilty.
Jeremy Motyka, who is now 50 years old, was found guilty in 2001 of killing 66-year-old Angela Spence-Shaw. She was found dead in her home in Little Compton, Rhode Island.
Reports say that Spence-Shaw had been attacked and left in her bathtub with a plugged-in hair dryer. Motyka was working on her house at the time of her death.
Motyka has always said he didn’t do it. He is now asking for another chance, saying that the police made the DNA evidence up and that his lawyer didn’t do a good job defending him.
He also claims he was somewhere else when Spence-Shaw died and that his fingerprints weren’t found at the scene.
A judge has asked both sides to write down their arguments so he can review them. This comes after a court said Motyka should get a hearing because his first request for a new trial was turned down without him even getting a chance to speak.
Motyka’s former lawyer told the court that he didn’t get all the information he needed to properly defend Motyka.
The Attorney General’s Office said that while Motyka has the right to a hearing, they believe the court will eventually dismiss his request because it doesn’t have any real basis.
Prosecutors also say that Motyka hasn’t presented any new evidence and is just trying to argue about things that have already been decided by a jury.
Spence-Shaw was known as a kind person in her town. About 300 people came to her memorial service after she died.
Motyka is currently in prison.
