Man on death row wants retrial for DNA tests

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– A New Hanover County judge has to decide whether to give a murderer another trial after his attorney presented new DNA tests at a retrial hearing.

Shan Carter is on death row for 3 murders, but he wants a re-trial for one of them.

Carter’s defense attorney asked a judge for a re-trial of the 1996 murder of Donald Brunson, because they say new DNA tests exclude Carter from DNA on some of the evidence.

District attorney Ben David told the judge today three witnesses in the first trial proved Carter along with 2 other people robbed and shot Brunson to death after tieing him up and putting him in the trunk of his own car. David says they didn’t need forensic evidence to prove that.

Defense attorney Will Durham says original testing done in 1999 on 3 black ski masks found at the scene showed no DNA, but he says new tests done in 2014 excluded Carter from the DNA. Durham says this kind of finding could affect a jury’s verdict.

David says Carter is not trying to prove innocence, but trying to get life without parole instead of the death sentence.

The judge is waiting on documents from the attorneys before he decides whether to give Carter a retrial.