Kenneth Clair, who spent more than 30 years on California’s death row before having his sentence reduced, is still fighting to prove his innocence. Clair was convicted of the murder of 25-year-old nanny Linda Rodgers in Santa Ana in November 1984, in spite of the fact that two witnesses say the man who killed her was white, and DNA evidence at the crime scene didn’t match his. He was sent to death row in 1987.
In March 2015, the death penalty verdict was reversed by the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals because of inadequate representation; the Orange County DA’s office decided not to retry him, and he was resentenced to a life in prison without parole.
But Clair, who turns 59 in May, maintains he’s innocent, and his defense team is asking the DA’s office to release the name of the person whose DNA was found on the victim. An online petition has gone viral, collecting 156,000 signatures across the country.
Clair’s story, and the many questions surrounding his case, will be featured on CNN’s HLN network this Sunday, April 29, at 8 p.m.