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player ready...A series of hearings begins Tuesday on a petition for a new trail for Marvin Williford, who is currently serving an 80-year prison sentence after being convicted of murder in the burning death of a North Chicago man.
Williford was convicted of murder by a jury in 2004 for the murder of Delwin Foxworth, who was doused with gasoline and set on fire in a North Chicago home in 2000 and died in a medical facility in 2002 after never recovering from the injuries.
Defense attorneys have petitioned for a new a new trial for Williford, based primarily on DNA testing results conducted after the trial was held.
Prosecutors have asserted that Williford was convicted on evidence including eyewitness identification and testimony, not DNA, and it does not diminish the validity of his conviction that DNA results from the scene that do not match Williford’s profile.
The hearings on the petition are scheduled Tuesday, Thursday, and Sept. 19 if necessary.
Prosecutors said Foxworth was “beaten and burned alive,” and that his trial included eyewitness testimony of a person present during the attack. The state said a motive had been established — a debt owed by Foxworth by Williford. Prosecutors also cited Williford’s flight from the state following the murder and evidence of attempted witness intimidation in an unsuccessful motion to deny the petition hearing.
Defense attorney David Owens, with the University of Chicago Law School’s Exoneration Project, has said the identification of several DNA profiles at the murder scene, none of which have been found to match Williford and one of which matches semen found at the scene of the 1992 rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker in Waukegan, is reason enough for a new trial.
Foxworth died in a hospital as the result of his injuries after what officials described as “over two years of pain and suffering.” Officials have said two other unidentified men participated in the attack with Williford.
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