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November 30, 2009

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Attorneys say many mistakes made in 1986 trial

Kim Smith

Saturday, Jan. 20, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

There were many mistakes in the 1986 trial of death-row inmate Paul Browning, according to current defense attorneys Daniel Lamb and Brian Martin. The two are hoping a judge will agree and rule that the mistakes and a recent DNA test favorable to Browning warrant a new trial.

Browning was convicted of killing jeweler Hugo Elsen during a robbery and sentenced to die. Randall Pike, Browning's defense attorney at trial, says the criticisms of the trial are "baseless allegations" and that he did the best he could with the limited information that he was given by Browning.

Lamb and Martin say Pike made these errors:

Browning now has a witness who says he was in the back seat of the car when the Cuban-American pushed Browning out of the way and got in the car the day of the murder. He claims the man was carrying a bag filled with jewelry trays.

The witness only came forward after learning he is HIV positive, court records say.

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