WASHINGTON, 28 LUG - Il governatore dell'Indiana, Frank O' Bannon, un democratico, ha sospeso per 60 giorni l'esecuzione di Darnell Williams, che doveva avvenire venerdi'.

La sospensione dell'esecuzione dovra' servire per compiere dei test del Dna, non previsti all'epoca del processo, che potrebbero scagionare il Williams, condannato per l'assassinio dei suoi genitori adottivi.

Si tratta di stabilire se il sangue trovato sui pantaloni di Williams era davvero dei suoi genitori. Il governatore ha agito dopo che anche il pubblico ministero che aveva chiesto la condanna di Williams ha avuto dei dubbi e dei ripensamenti.

Negli ultimi giorni, la vicenda ha assunto negli Stati Uniti rilevanza nazionale. 

INDIANA: Indiana Governor Delays Execution for DNA Testing

Indiana Gov. Frank L. O'Bannon (D) yesterday delayed the execution of a convicted murderer in order to allow for last-minute DNA testing of blood on the condemned man's clothing -- just hours after the prosecutor who had sought the death penalty as well as a juror took the unusual step of pleading with the state parole board to spare Darnell Williams.

Former prosecutor Thomas Vanes yesterday asked the parole board to either test the blood on the shorts Williams wore the day of the crime or to commute the sentence to life in prison. Williams, 36, was scheduled to die Friday. He has never admitted guilt in the slayings of 2 people in 1986.

O'Bannon asked the parole board to delay its vote as he issued the the 60-day stay. In a statement, O'Bannon said he was granting the stay "to permit all potentially relevant evidence to be discovered" and specifically cited Vanes's views as a factor in his decision.

"I am very pleased," said Vanes, who in his 13 years as a prosecutor secured nine death sentences. "It sure makes it worthwhile that I did what I did. This sort of thing is rare but it shouldn't be. Prosecutors tend to be overly defensive about their convictions. There is absolutely no good reason not to test the evidence given the technology. Things are different than they were in 1987."

The Innocence Project -- responsible for winning 133 exonerations based on DNA testing -- said it will pay for the testing, which could cost about $10,000 and take about 5 days.

Vanes said he also had doubts about Williams's pending execution when the death sentence of a co-defendant, Gamba Rastafari, formerly known as Gregory Rouster, was voided last month after Rastafari was declared mentally retarded.

"It would appear that Rouster deserves the lion's share of the blame and it doesn't seem right that his sentence is voided and Williams's is not," Vanes said. "I certainly would not have sought the death penalty just for Williams alone."

Williams had sought testing on a pair of shorts he wore the day of the murder, arguing that if the blood is not that of the victims -- John and Henrietta Rease -- it would raise questions about his culpability. A state judge, who presided over post-conviction hearings in Williams case, weighed in on Friday, writing the parole board on his behalf.

But lower state and federal courts rejected Williams's motions in recent months on the grounds that there was enough additional evidence to convict him for his role in the murder of the couple, Rouster's former foster parents.

Yesterday, juror John Gnajek said that he was "instrumental in actually getting the death penalty for him." He said that the earlier blood analysis of the spots was a critical factor, showing that it was "consistent" with Williams's type as well as that of 45 % of the population.

"They were saying that the blood samples were just a pebble in the ocean of evidence. As far as the jury was concerned, it was the ocean," Gnajek said. "It was the only real physical evidence that put him in that room. Without that blood, I can't say that we would have sentenced him to death."

In Philadelphia yesterday, the Associated Press reported that attorneys for death row inmate Nicholas James Yarris, 42, said that DNA testing showed that the inmate was not guilty of a 1983 rape and murder. He could become the 1st person on Pennsylvania's death row to be cleared by DNA evidence.