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Interview With Mother, Lawyer of Death Row Inmate Proven Innocent by DNA

Aired July 29, 2003 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: (AUDIO GAP) Jane Yarris, the mother of the death row inmate Nicholas Yarris, you just saw her in the piece. Also in the piece was Christina Swarns, she is assistant federal defender in Pennsylvania and she represents Mr. Yarris. Ladies, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
JANE YARRIS, MOTHER OF INMATE: Good morning. Thank you.

KAGAN: Miss Yarris, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) start with you. Your reaction to the news that in fact these DNA tests show that your son is not probably guilty of what he's been accused of?

YARRIS: I'm very thrilled to death because they kept on coming back inconclusive up until the last time. And that's when it came up positive that he hadn't commit this had crime, which I've known all his life.

KAGAN: Go ahead.

YARRIS: No, I don't have anything else.

KAGAN: OK, well, Christina, let's bring you in here. Could you go ahead and explain a little bit more about what Miss Yarris was saying, that there had been previous tests that were inconclusive but now this one came up positive.

CHRISTINA SWARNS, ASST. FEDERAL DEFENDER: Yes, Nick -- Mr. Yarris in the late 1980s was one of the first of Pennsylvania's death sentence prisoners to ask for DNA testing. DNA testing was conducted at that time, but due to the fact that the evidence -- there were problems with the storage of the evidence and the protocols used by the labs, those test results were inconclusive.

Fortunately for us, be Dr. Edward Blake of Forensic Science Associates in California was able here at the last minute to get DNA and determine that Mr. Yarris did not commit this offense.

KAGAN: Now, for people out there that are kind raising their eyebrows and having some doubts about this, let's talk about this doctor that did the testing. First of all, the evidence that he tested has been in the custody all these years of the prosecutor's office, is that correct?

SWARNS: Yes it has.

KAGAN: So it's not like something that you guys came up with? SWARNS: No, this is a situation where our office has been in cooperation with the Delaware County's district attorney's office. The Delaware County district attorney's office provided the evidence to Dr. Blake.

KAGAN: And so these tests have now come up as conclusive that he is not a match, and yet he is still behind bars. So what's left to be done?

SWARNS: We just received the last of the results on Friday so I think the district attorney's office is reviewing that report and determining how it thinks that it affects Mr. Yarris's conviction. I have every confidence that once they have had the opportunity to review that report, that they will arrive at the same conclusion that we have.

KAGAN: Where they just open the prison doors and he walks out? Or is there some kind of legal maneuver that still has to take place?

SWARNS: Well, yes. We'll probably have to go into federal court and we'll have to come up with a way for the federal judge to grant the writ of habeas corpus.

KAGAN: All right, let's go ahead bring Miss Yarris back here. Have you had a chance to talk with your son since those latest test results came back on Friday?

YARRIS: Yes, a little bit. And he's thrilled, I'm thrilled. And it's going to take more time. You know, now he's impatient. He's been found innocent and he wants to come home.

KAGAN: Well, understandably that he's been saying this all these years.

Tell us a little bit more about your son's story. How did he end up being at the wrong place at the wrong time? And where has he said all these years that he was at the time that this murder took place?

YARRIS: Halle (ph) did that. He had been locked up in Dover County. And he read about this and he was on 24-hour lock-up and stupidly said that he knew something about the case. From there on, it just mushroomed out of whack and that was it. He didn't know anything about the case. He was...

KAGAN: And it's turned into a 21-year or longer nightmare. Has he said when the day does come, that he does get out, what's the first thing he wants to do?

YARRIS: Come home and eat.

KAGAN: Are you going to cook, Mrs. Yarris?

YARRIS: Yes, I am.

KAGAN: What's going on the table?

YARRIS: Everything that I can cook.

KAGAN: You're going to clean off the market shelves. If you can make it, I bet you will make it on that day. Well I bet that will be a very happy day indeed.

And just one more question for Miss Swarns. What kind of time frame are we talking about here do you think?

SWARNS: It's hard to tell. It depends on how long the district attorney's office needs to consider the evidence and respond to the motions that we file.

KAGAN: All right. We'll be tracking the story. Christina Swarns, Jane Yarris, thank you so much for bringing this story and the latest on that to us. We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Innocent by DNA>


Aired July 29, 2003 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: (AUDIO GAP) Jane Yarris, the mother of the death row inmate Nicholas Yarris, you just saw her in the piece. Also in the piece was Christina Swarns, she is assistant federal defender in Pennsylvania and she represents Mr. Yarris. Ladies, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
JANE YARRIS, MOTHER OF INMATE: Good morning. Thank you.

KAGAN: Miss Yarris, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) start with you. Your reaction to the news that in fact these DNA tests show that your son is not probably guilty of what he's been accused of?

YARRIS: I'm very thrilled to death because they kept on coming back inconclusive up until the last time. And that's when it came up positive that he hadn't commit this had crime, which I've known all his life.

KAGAN: Go ahead.

YARRIS: No, I don't have anything else.

KAGAN: OK, well, Christina, let's bring you in here. Could you go ahead and explain a little bit more about what Miss Yarris was saying, that there had been previous tests that were inconclusive but now this one came up positive.

CHRISTINA SWARNS, ASST. FEDERAL DEFENDER: Yes, Nick -- Mr. Yarris in the late 1980s was one of the first of Pennsylvania's death sentence prisoners to ask for DNA testing. DNA testing was conducted at that time, but due to the fact that the evidence -- there were problems with the storage of the evidence and the protocols used by the labs, those test results were inconclusive.

Fortunately for us, be Dr. Edward Blake of Forensic Science Associates in California was able here at the last minute to get DNA and determine that Mr. Yarris did not commit this offense.

KAGAN: Now, for people out there that are kind raising their eyebrows and having some doubts about this, let's talk about this doctor that did the testing. First of all, the evidence that he tested has been in the custody all these years of the prosecutor's office, is that correct?

SWARNS: Yes it has.

KAGAN: So it's not like something that you guys came up with? SWARNS: No, this is a situation where our office has been in cooperation with the Delaware County's district attorney's office. The Delaware County district attorney's office provided the evidence to Dr. Blake.

KAGAN: And so these tests have now come up as conclusive that he is not a match, and yet he is still behind bars. So what's left to be done?

SWARNS: We just received the last of the results on Friday so I think the district attorney's office is reviewing that report and determining how it thinks that it affects Mr. Yarris's conviction. I have every confidence that once they have had the opportunity to review that report, that they will arrive at the same conclusion that we have.

KAGAN: Where they just open the prison doors and he walks out? Or is there some kind of legal maneuver that still has to take place?

SWARNS: Well, yes. We'll probably have to go into federal court and we'll have to come up with a way for the federal judge to grant the writ of habeas corpus.

KAGAN: All right, let's go ahead bring Miss Yarris back here. Have you had a chance to talk with your son since those latest test results came back on Friday?

YARRIS: Yes, a little bit. And he's thrilled, I'm thrilled. And it's going to take more time. You know, now he's impatient. He's been found innocent and he wants to come home.

KAGAN: Well, understandably that he's been saying this all these years.

Tell us a little bit more about your son's story. How did he end up being at the wrong place at the wrong time? And where has he said all these years that he was at the time that this murder took place?

YARRIS: Halle (ph) did that. He had been locked up in Dover County. And he read about this and he was on 24-hour lock-up and stupidly said that he knew something about the case. From there on, it just mushroomed out of whack and that was it. He didn't know anything about the case. He was...

KAGAN: And it's turned into a 21-year or longer nightmare. Has he said when the day does come, that he does get out, what's the first thing he wants to do?

YARRIS: Come home and eat.

KAGAN: Are you going to cook, Mrs. Yarris?

YARRIS: Yes, I am.

KAGAN: What's going on the table?

YARRIS: Everything that I can cook.

KAGAN: You're going to clean off the market shelves. If you can make it, I bet you will make it on that day. Well I bet that will be a very happy day indeed.

And just one more question for Miss Swarns. What kind of time frame are we talking about here do you think?

SWARNS: It's hard to tell. It depends on how long the district attorney's office needs to consider the evidence and respond to the motions that we file.

KAGAN: All right. We'll be tracking the story. Christina Swarns, Jane Yarris, thank you so much for bringing this story and the latest on that to us. We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Innocent by DNA>