USA - Kenneth Clair (CA)

USA - California. New DNA testing proves innocence of Kenneth Clair

June 2, 2025:

June 2, 2025 - California. New round of DNA testing proves innocence of Kenneth Clair imprisoned for decades for OC slaying, defense says

A new round of DNA testing exonerates a homeless man who has spent nearly 4 decades in prison for the killing of a Santa Ana nanny, according to defense attorneys who are asking Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer to declare Kenneth Clair innocent of the 1984 slaying.

Clair, who spent years on death row before an appellate court overturned his death sentence and he was re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, has always denied killing 25-year-old Linda Faye Rodgers. A viral social media campaign — including a new trial petition that drew more than 160,000 signatures — turned his case into a cause celebre.

Rodgers was found bludgeoned, stabbed and strangled in the master bedroom of a Santa Ana house where she worked. Her child, and 4 others, were sleeping in another room. Clair, then 25, was living in an abandoned home next door to where Rodgers was caring for the children, had been arrested days earlier on suspicion of burglarizing the house where she was staying and was released from jail hours before the killing.

The evidence against Clair was largely circumstantial, including a claim by Clair’s ex-girlfriend who testified that Clair had shown her items taken from the house during the killing. The ex-girlfriend also wore a wire, and recorded a conversation in which Clair equivocated when asked why he killed Rodgers, not denying the slaying but falling short of confessing.

But other evidence has long called into question Clair’s conviction. DNA taken from vaginal swabs of the victim did not match Clair. And a child who witnessed the killing told police the attacker was White; Clair is Black.

Acknowledging the advancements in DNA technology since Clair’s conviction, Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Hanson in 2023 granted a defense request to test pieces of evidence that could not be DNA tested at the time of the original investigation.

The Orange County DA’s office did not oppose the request for new testing, which led to 20 pieces of evidence that had been collected from the crime scene and from Rodgers’ body being analyzed by the county crime lab and DNA experts who previously have worked for both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

The testing “confirmed Mr. Clair’s actual innocence,” said Michael D. Mortenson, one of the attorney’s representing Clair. None of the tested items had Clair’s DNA on them, said Mortenson, who also noted that no physical evidence — including fingerprint, hair or blood evidence — has ever tied Clair to the murder scene.

The new DNA evidence also points to 2 potential participants in Rodgers’ killing, though their identities are currently unknown.

One unidentified person’s DNA was found on the sleeves of a T-shirt that was used to bind Rodgers, on a chrome bar that was used to strike her, on a glove discovered on top of her right foot and on parts of her body and her clothes, according to the defense letter. A 2nd unidentified person’s DNA was found on the fly of Rodgers’ jeans and on a cigarette butt that was recovered from the waterbed where the killing occurred, the defense added.

In a letter to DA Todd Spitzer, the attorneys representing Clair requested an “expedited review for actual innocence of his (Clair’s conviction).”

“Nearly 40 years have passed since Mr. Clair was convicted of a murder he did not commit,” Mortenson wrote in the letter. “The evidence now confirms what he has said all along — he did not do it.”

Asked for comment on the letter from Clair’s attorneys, DA officials did not specifically weigh in on the new evidence, instead referencing their conviction review process.

“We believe in in our cases and our convictions,” said Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office. “The responsibility of a prosecutor is immense, and it is a responsibility we take extremely seriously. We will continue to review each and every request to review a case for wrongful conviction or a claim of factual innocence and take the appropriate action based on the evidence as we carry out our mission of pursuing justice and protecting public safety.”

Mortenson expressed frustration at the lack of a quick answer from the DA’s office. If prosecutors don’t determine that Clair was innocent and seek dismissal of the conviction, Mortenson said the defense may seek a new trial based on the new DNA evidence.

“Everyone right now should be on the same side,” Mortenson said. “And that is the side of justice for both the victim and the person who has been wrongfully convicted.”

After nearly 3 decades on death row, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2016 overturned Clair’s death sentence but upheld his murder conviction. The appellate judges found that during his trial, Clair’s defense attorney failed to present evidence that he was repeatedly raped behind bars as a teenager during his previous prison stint for purse snatching. That evidence could have swayed the jury toward compassion as they considered the death penalty, the judges found.

Orange County prosecutors opted not to once again seek the death penalty. At the time, Clair’s attorneys asked Judge Hanson to re-sentence Clair to 25-years-to-life, which due to his time already served behind bars would have made him immediately eligible for parole.

Instead, Judge Hanson, in her 2020 ruling, ordered Clair to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The judge acknowledged that Clair was exposed to violence as a youth and described his early years as “less than ideal.” But she also said she believed Clair remained a danger to the public, describing the killing as having “revealed a high degree of cruelty and viciousness.” Rodgers’ daughter backed the life without parole sentence, telling the judge that Clair “never owned what he did, never showed any remorse for his actions” and was “exactly where he belongs.”

The results of the recent DNA tests were “a huge sigh of relief” for Clair, his attorney said. But, Mortenson added, Clair has no intention of taking any deal that would require him to admit to lesser charges, even if it would result in his being released from prison on time served.

“It is all or nothing,” Mortenson said of his client’s intention. “Either he dies in prison an innocent man and the world knows he is innocent, or the DA agrees to drop all charges or we litigate it and go to a new trial.”

https://www.ocregister.com/2025/06/02/new-round-of-dna-testing-proves-innocence-of-man-imprisoned-for-decades-for-oc-slaying-defense-says/