DOVER, Del. (AP) - Prosecutors have lost a bid to prevent expert defense testimony in the retrial of a former death-row inmate charged with killing a man and young boy at a Wilmington barbershop in 2001.
Chauncey Starling faces a May retrial for the killings of 5-year-old Damon Gist Jr. and 28-year-old Darnell Evans.
Starling was granted a new trial in 2015 because of his defense attorney’s mistakes and prosecutors’ failure to disclose information about their key witness at his first trial.
A judge this week said a forensic expert will be allowed to testify for the defense about the adequacy of the homicide investigation.
The judge also said prosecutors would not be able to use Starling’s nickname “Smoke,” in his retrial, saying jurors might unfairly infer he had previously killed, or “smoked,” somebody.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.