Factual background: On October 4, 1980, police found a woman dead in her apartment, face down and naked, except for a nightgown around her neck. Her head was covered with blood, and her body had many visible wounds. She had also been sexually assaulted.

Linscott was a neighbor of the victim and was questioned by police during a neighborhood canvass. He later remembered a dream he had the night of the murder, which seemed to parallel the incident. After reporting his dream to police, he gave several recorded interviews with police officers. He also gave saliva, blood, and hair samples to police.

Steven Linscott was arrested for murder and rape on November 25, 1980. In Cook County a circuit court jury took 10 hours to convict Linscott of murder and acquit him of rape. The judge sentenced Linscott to 40 years in prison.

Prosecutor's evidence at trial: The prosecution based its case against Linscott on several points:

· The dream that Linscott reported to police contained elements similar to those of the crime, including the following:

1. The victim was beaten repeatedly both in the dream and in actuality.
2. The victim was beaten in a downward motion both in the dream and in the actual crime.
3. The weapon, in the dream, was long and thin; the actual weapon was a tire iron.
4. The victim in the dream died passively; the actual victim was found with her hands formed in an "ommudra" sign used by Hindus to signify a passive acceptance of death.

· The results of blood-typing tests that showed that the semen from the crime scene could have come from Linscott.
· The results of head and pubic hair analyses showed that hairs found at the scene were "consistent" with Linscott's hair.

Postconviction challenges: Linscott appealed, and on August 7, 1985, the Appellate Court of Illinois overturned the conviction (482 N.E.2d 403). The court ruled that the State did not produce direct evidence of Linscott's guilt and that his "confession" contained no voluntary acknowledgment of guilt. The prosecution appealed this decision to the Illinois Supreme Court. While the State's appeal was pending, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on October 31, 1985, that Linscott could be released on bond. On October 17, 1986, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that there was enough evidence to convict and reversed the decision of the appellate court (500 N.E.2d 420). The Supreme Court, however, also ruled that there appeared to be issues from the trial that were not addressed in the appeal, and the case was remanded to the appellate court for further review.

The appellate court was asked to review issues involving the physical evidence. The State's expert on the hair examination testified that only one in 4,500 persons would have consistent hairs when tested for 40 different characteristics. He only tested between 8 and 12 characteristics, however, and could not remember which ones. The appellate court ruled on July 29, 1987, that this testimony, coupled with the prosecution's use of it at closing argument, constituted denial of a fair trial (511 N.E.2d 1303). The conviction was again overturned.

Leave to appeal was again granted to the prosecution by the Illinois Supreme Court. On January 31, 1991, the court vacated the judgment by the appellate court, reversed the judgment by the circuit court, and remanded the case for a new trial (566 N.E.2d 1355). A trial date was set for July 22, 1992.

DNA results: In preparation for the new trial, prosecutors attempted to bolster their case by submitting the physical evidence for PCR testing. The analysis by the Center for Blood Research (CBR) in Boston indicated that the semen could not have come from Linscott. DNA tests had been performed before the original trial, but the results were inconclusive and consumed all the swab material.