LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The inmate whose case inspired passage of Nebraska's DNA-testing law has filed a federal appeal seeking a new trial in the 1984 killing of his wife.
Mohamed El-Tabech is serving a life sentence, convicted of murdering Lynn El-Tabech in their Lincoln home.
El-Tabech says in his appeal that DNA testing of a hair collected by investigators shows someone else was in the home and that El-Tabech's trial attorney was ineffective.
The DNA law was passed in 2001, after the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected El-Tabech's argument that the state should pay for DNA tests to see whether the results could prove his innocence. Such testing did not exist when he was convicted.
In 2005, the court rejected El-Tabech's request to use the law to compel testing in his case.
Published: Thu, Sep 16, 2010
