Appeals court denies bid to examine DNA program in slayings
PITTSBURGH (AP) — An appeals court has declined to give defense attorneys a look inside a computer program used to link their client’s DNA to the shooting deaths of two people, including a local hip-hop performer.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court last week declined 29-year-old Michael Robinson’s request in the Allegheny County case in the May 2013 shooting deaths of 29-year-old Lawrence Short and 18-year-old Tyrone Coleman in May 2013.
Another judge denied a similar request in the trial of a man charged in the murder of two sisters of an Iowa state lawmaker. His attorneys said they will pursue the issue if their client is convicted.
Short was known as a member of the hip-hop group Hardcore Entertainment. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted of first-degree murder.