Adam Braseel argues new evidence shows wrongful conviction. Prosecutors say so what?

Adam Braseel says new evidence shows he’s serving life for a dead man’s crime.

Grundy County prosecutors say too little, too late.

Braseel, 36, has spent 12 years in prison so far for the killing of Malcolm Burrows, 60, on a rural roadside near Tracy City. A judge could hear his bid for a new trial next month.

‘No objective similarity’

Burrows’ killer beat him to death the night of Jan. 7, 2006, after a man showed up at Burrows’ home asking for help with a car that wouldn’t start. Burrows offered the man a ride in his Chrysler and never came back.

Fingerprints found on the Chrysler’s passenger door handle at the murder scene belong not to Braseel, but to Kermit Eugene Bryson, a local felon who killed himself two years later while on the run for gunning down Shane Tate, a Grundy County deputy.

Revelations of the prints have led to calls for a new trial, including from the current Grundy County sheriff.

So what? say prosecutors. Burrows — a small-time politician, shade-tree mechanic and convicted drug dealer — was well-known in Grundy County and drew visitors at all hours. Read more>>