DNA evidence could be the key to Robert Springsteen's freedom. Evidence that was initially discovered by state prosecutors has now become a weapon used by the defense.
"They thought they were going to get an YSTR result and hammer the point home, but instead they got the truth and they can't handle it," Joe James Sawyer, Springsteen's Attorney, said.
YSTR is a forensic DNA testing method that looks for only male DNA. It wasn't available when the case first went to trial. During the 2008 testing, the state found an unknown male profile in the evidence from the crime.
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Springsteen in Court
News 8's Catie Beck explains the reason behind the bond reduction request
 
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"The result of this hearing is that there is one unknown male donor that we have been searching for since March of 2008," Rosemary Lehmberg, Travis County District Attorney, said.
The defense would argue there could be more than one unknown. But the point they wanted to make was that it is unknown. That means, it does not match any of the four suspects that were originally charged. State prosecutors are still looking, but the defense said that the evidence shatters the state's case.
"Their expert and any expert they can buy have to conclude that is true, it was not any one of these four boys," Sawyer said.
State prosecutors came to argue that the defense used DNA samples that were too small to be certain, and they didn't follow thorough methods by double testing. Now, it is in the hands of Judge Michael Lynch.
"We will await the court's decision and see what he has to say about the bond reduction," Lehmberg said.
The decision for Springsteen should be made within the next few days.
