AUSTIN (KXAN) — After spending decades of their lives wrongly accused of one of Austin’s most infamous crimes, four men previously believed to have killed four teenage girls at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop on Anderson Lane in 1991 are expected to finally see their names cleared.
On Thursday morning, prosecutors asked a Travis County judge to formally clear Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Forrest Welborn and Maurice Pierce. The hearing follows a major breakthrough in the case last fall, when Austin Police revealed ballistic and DNA evidence pointed instead to a known-serial killer, Robert Brashers, as the person responsible.
PREVIOUS: ‘First steps’ to formally clear the names of men previously accused of yogurt shop murders
APD cold case detective Dan Jackson said evidence shows Brashers, who has since died, acted alone.
The hearing is expected to spotlight the failures of the justice system in this case, with remarks from Travis County prosecutors, as well as at least two of the men — Welborn and Scott — and their attorneys. According to a news release from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Springsteen’s attorney, the executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas, which is representing the late Maurice Pierce, and Det. Jackson will also play a role.
LIVE UPDATES
9:00 a.m.: Opening statements delivered by TCDA First Assistant & Conviction Integrity Unit Trudy Strassburger, Innocence Project of Texas Executive Director Mike Ware for the late Maurice Pierce, Attorney Amber Farrelly for Robert Springsteen, and Attorney Tony Díaz for Michael Scott.
9:07 a.m.: Travis County First Assistant District Attorney Trudy Strassburger opened the hearing by stating, “Every day in this courthouse, we ask people to take responsibility. Today it is our turn to accept responsibility.”…