Ill. Death Row Cases Handed Back
Associated Press

The Illinois Supreme Court gave second chances to two
death-row inmates Thursday, granting one a new trial
and allowing another DNA testing and the opportunity
to argue that his lawyer was incompetent.
In the first case, the high court ruled that Edward
Tenney, convicted of the 1993 murder of a 74-year-old
woman, should be retried because a jury was not
allowed to hear statements alleging another man
confessed to the slaying.
That man was initially found guilty of the crime, but
the court vacated his conviction after authorities
charged Tenney, who is also serving a life sentence
for another murder.
In the second case, the court granted Milton Johnson's
request for DNA testing of evidence from a woman who
survived a 1983 attack. Johnson was convicted of
killing the woman's boyfriend and stabbing and raping
her.
Johnson also should get a hearing on his claim that
his trial attorney, William Swano, was incompetent,
the court ruled. Swano, now in prison, was indicted in
1991 for bribing judges and getting cocaine in return
for legal services.
Johnson says Swano lied about interviewing witnesses
and hiring experts in his case.
The decisions came days after Gov. George Ryan's death
penalty commission released a report with 85
recommendations to fix the state's capital punishment
system.
Ryan suspended executions in 2000, citing the release
of 13 death-row inmates whose convictions were flawed.