New DNA evidence in yogurt shop case

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Defense attorney for Robert Springsteen say new DNA test results prove their client did not commit the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders and they are asking District Judge Mike Lynch to release their client on bond while he awaits trial.

Springsteen was in court Thursday and took notes throughout much of the hearting.  His attorneys presented Judge Lynch with the results of new DNA lab testing.   

Defense attorneys contend the new DNA test results show a mixture of DNA from two different men from the vaginal swabs of sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison.   

One of the men has been identified as Jennifer's boyfriend at the time, Sammy Buchanan. Prosecutors say Buchanan's DNA was found inside both Harbison sisters because their bodies were stacked on top of one another at the crime scene.

The other profile is unknown.

The state's expert challenges these results and cites an inability by the lab to duplicate the results, as well as the very small amount of DNA that was tested.

Back in March of 2008, state lab testing showed unknown male DNA on swabs taken from victim Amy Ayers.   Prosecutors insist that result came from contamination of the evidence. They have tested more than 100 people with no positive result.

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg made a rare appearance at the hearing Thursday.

"We believe there is one unknown male donor in the evidence that we had tested in March of 2008 and that's why we were interested in this hearing today because it is not as the defense would have it that there are multiple unknown donors," said Lehmberg.

"What we have is a mounting body of scientific evidence that says its wasn't these boys- the most important thing the DNA stands for is- it's someone else," said defense attorney Joe James Sawyer.

Prosecutors have insisted all along that Springsteen and Michael Scott are guilty of the murders, citing their confessions when they were first arrested in 1999. Defense attorneys say the confessions were coerced and the result of aggressive and inappropriate questioning tactics by Austin police.

Springsteen and Scott were convicted of the murders in 2001, but an appeals court threw out those convictions.

Judge Mike Lynch will rule on the bond reduction for Springsteen early next week. Michael Scott's trial is scheduled to begin July 6. Springsteen's trial will follow.