ichael Blair became the prime suspect in the 1993 murder of seven-year-old Ashley Estell of Plano when two crime scene investigators noticed him near the scene and thought he looked suspicious. Police interrogated Blair for over nine hours. Throughout the interrogation, Blair maintained his innocence and was released. An eyewitness came forward stating that he saw Blair in the park where the girl was abducted.
Michael Blair spent fourteen years on death row due to faulty forensic science and a mistaken eyewitness identification.
At trial, a forensic scientist testified that strands of hair found at the crime scene on the day of the girl’s abduction appeared to match hairs taken from the victim and Blair. In addition, the forensic expert testified that hairs found in Blair’s car closely resembled hairs taken from the victim, and he could not “tell the difference, microscopically” between fibers taken from Ashley’s body and fibers found in Blair’s car. An FBI analyst also testified to similarities in the chemical composition of the fibers. The jury took only ninety minutes to convict Blair and sentence him to death.
Post-conviction DNA testing of the hair samples in 1998, 2000, and 2002 revealed that none of the hairs came from either the victim or Blair. In 2006, DNA testing showed that material taken from under the victim’s fingernails did not come from Blair. Blair’s conviction was thrown out in 2008.
Because of faulty forensic evidence and a mistaken eyewitness identification, Michael Blair spent fourteen years on Texas’ death row for a crime he did not commit.
