Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for new testing on DNA evidence in the 1983 quadruple murder case in Chino Hills.
Newsom issued the executive order Friday, months after former Gov. Jerry Brown ordered new DNA testing in the same case, however the items to be tested in Newsom's order are different from what Brown ordered.
Kevin Cooper was convicted in the 1983 brutal slayings of Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica and 11-year-old neighbor Christopher Hughes.
Newsom's order seeks the testing of untested hairs collected from the victim's hands at the crime scene, blood evidence, fingernail scrapings from the victims and a green button, the sbsun reports.
"I take no position as to Mr. Cooper's guilt or innocence at this time. Especially in cases where the government seeks to impose the ultimate penalty of death, I need to be satisfied that all relevant evidence is carefully and fairly examined," Newsom's order said.
Coopers legal team insist the new testing will show once and for all he was framed.
"Our office, and particularly the surviving victim and the other victims' surviving family members, are disappointed with the Governor's Order," said San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson in a statement. "Unfortunately, over time it seems the victims' desire for justice in this case matters less and less. This office did not feel any additional DNA testing should have been ordered for all the reasons we outlined in our opposition papers over the past ten years."
Cooper's attorney feels investigators planted his client's blood on a T-shirt.
Mary Ann Hughes, mother of Chris Hughes, said Cooper's case is "totally adjudicated." She will join the show today at 4:00 p.m. with more on Newsom's order.
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