21/06/07 (UK):
Dando Murder - New Appeal Based On Forensics
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The man convicted of murdering TV Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando has won the right to a new appeal.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission today confirmed that Barry George, 42, will have his case referred to the Court of Appeal after "a thorough and intensive review".
The decision has been made on the grounds that gun residue found in his coat lining was given "too much significance" at his 2001 trial.
Jill, 37, was shot in the head outside her home in Fulham, West London, in April 1999. George, who lived less than half a mile away, was arrested a year later and found guilty at the Old Bailey by a jury with a ten-1 majority. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Court of Appeal dismissed his first appeal against conviction in July 2002.
Announcing today's decision, CCRC chairman Professor Graham Zellick said:
"Our investigation of this case could not have been more thorough or intensive.
"The review has taken some considerable time in view of the complexity of the investigation.
"Our role is limited to assessing whether there is a real possibility that the Court of Appeal may quash the conviction in the light of new evidence or argument and we have concluded that that is so.
"It is now a matter for the Court of Appeal as to whether it judges that the new evidence or argument does indeed render the conviction unsafe, in which case it will be quashed.
"If it is, then the Court must decide whether there should be a new trial."
© X-Pro 2007
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