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    James Cruz Appeal Denial

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    Ryan Graffius
    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an appeal from James Cruz, who was convicted in 1994 of first degree murder for strangling a 17-year-old woman in 1993. Cruz had filed an appeal in 2015 alleging erroneous testimony from an FBI hair analysis, but the Superior Court found no errors, and the Supreme Court declined to review. Cruz's life sentence will stand, bringing closure to the nearly 30-year-old case.

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    James Cruz Appeal Denial

    Uploaded by

    Ryan Graffius
    1K views2 pages
    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an appeal from James Cruz, who was convicted in 1994 of first degree murder for strangling a 17-year-old woman in 1993. Cruz had filed an appeal in 2015 alleging erroneous testimony from an FBI hair analysis, but the Superior Court found no errors, and the Supreme Court declined to review. Cruz's life sentence will stand, bringing closure to the nearly 30-year-old case.

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    James Cruz Appeal Denial

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    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an appeal from James Cruz, who was convicted in 1994 of first degree murder for strangling a 17-year-old woman in 1993. Cruz had filed an appeal in 2015 alleging erroneous testimony from an FBI hair analysis, but the Superior Court found no errors, and the Supreme Court declined to review. Cruz's life sentence will stand, bringing closure to the nearly 30-year-old case.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    1K views2 pages

    James Cruz Appeal Denial

    Uploaded by

    Ryan Graffius
    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an appeal from James Cruz, who was convicted in 1994 of first degree murder for strangling a 17-year-old woman in 1993. Cruz had filed an appeal in 2015 alleging erroneous testimony from an FBI hair analysis, but the Superior Court found no errors, and the Supreme Court declined to review. Cruz's life sentence will stand, bringing closure to the nearly 30-year-old case.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    You are on page 1of 2

    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

    OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY


    SEAN P. MCGRAW Courthouse Annex, Room 302
    First Assistant District Attorney 106 East High Street
    BERNIE CANTORNA Bellefonte, PA 16823
    MEGAN MCGORON District Attorney Telephone (814) 355-6735
    Deputy District Attorney Victim/Witness (814) 548-1107

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


    February 15, 2023

    ###

    Today the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an appeal by convicted murderer James
    Cruz, bringing closure to a case now almost 30 years old.

    In March of 1993, a passing motorist found the partially clad body of a deceased 17 year
    old woman along a roadway in Spring Township, Centre County. Her wrists had been
    bound tightly with yellow rope, and a piece of that same rope had been drawn fast
    around her neck, causing her death by ligature strangulation. The trail of evidence would
    eventually lead investigators to the state of Maine, where the victim had lived, to the state
    of Ohio, where police arrested cross-country trucker James Cruz for the murder.

    Former Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar prosecuted the case against Cruz,
    winning a conviction of first degree murder after a lengthy trial in June of 1994. Gricar’s
    evidence included testimony by an FBI microscopic hair comparison analyst that a hair
    found underneath the ligature matched Cruz’s hair, and hair found in Cruz’s truck
    matched the victim’s hair.

    In a press release dated April 20, 2015, the FBI disclosed that an investigation undertaken
    jointly by the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Innocence Project, and the National
    Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers determined that there had been widespread
    error in the conclusions of FBI microscopic hair comparison analysts prior to 2000. Based
    on this press release, Cruz filed a motion for a new trial in September of 2015 alleging
    that he had been convicted on the basis of erroneous microscopic hair comparison
    testimony.
    Cruz Press Release
    2/15/23
    Page 2 of 2

    After approximately 6½ years of litigation on Cruz’s motion, the Superior Court


    determined that the analyst had not committed the errors alleged by Cruz. On February
    15, 2023, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to review the Superior Court’s ruling.

    Cruz’s life sentence remains undisturbed. The District Attorney’s Office is grateful to the
    dedicated professionals, past and present, responsible for holding Cruz accountable for
    the 1993 murder. The closure of this case represents an important success in the history
    of the District Attorney’s Office.

    Please contact First Assistant District Attorney Sean McGraw for further information,
    814-355-6735 or smcgraw@centreda.org.

    ###

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