Opinion ID: 1390030
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Josh Ryen's statements

Text: Petitioner next contends that Josh Ryen gave a description of the assailants that exonerates him, (Pet. at 23), but this evidence was already admitted at trial. (95 RT 4932-70; 4971-73.) The jury already rejected Petitioner's claim of innocence based on the speculation of an eight-year-old child, made shortly after he was brutally attacked, that the three Hispanic males who came to his home looking for work before the family left for the barbeque were responsible for the murders in his home later that night. (95 RT 4932-70; 4971-73.) The post-conviction testing of the physical evidence at the crime confirms Petitioner's guilt. Evidence exhibit A-41, the blood from the crime scene discovered shortly after the discovery of the victims, is consistent with blood from an African American and inconsistent with a Hispanic or White individual. (93 RT 4424.) Moreover, the post-conviction DNA testing confirms that A-41 is Petitioner's blood. ( See Supplemental DOJ Physical Evidence Exam Report dated Sept. 24, 2002.) Continued exploitation of the speculation of victim who had been through a horrific experience is not a reliable basis for a finding of actual innocence. See Schlup, 513 U.S. at 324, 115 S.Ct. 851; Thompson, 523 U.S. at 559, 118 S.Ct. 1489.