"A state Supreme Court justice on Monday vacated the
1988 murder conviction of Richard J. Wright, who was found guilty that
year of setting a house fire that killed two teenage girls in Troy. The decision by Justice
Andrew Ceresia was based on questions raised by an attorney hired by
Wright's family who discovered serious flaws in the work of the arson
investigators who concluded the blaze was deliberately set. The attorney, Michael P. McDermott, filed a motion to reopen
the case and overturn the conviction based on what he said is new
scientific technology that debunked the methods of the original
investigators who determined the fire was started with an accellerant,
even though no traces of an accellerant were found. Ceresia's ruling allows prosecutors to seek a new trial for Wright,
49, who was immediately remanded to Rensselaer County jail without bail
Monday pending additional action in the case. However, it's unclear
whether Wright will face a second trial. Rensselaer County District
Attorney, who did not oppose the motion to set aside the verdict,
declined comment Monday. Wright was serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison at Marcy
Correctional Facility and his requests for parole had been rejected.........Wright's mother and sister, both named Linda, said they were happy
with Ceresia's ruling, which happened coincidentally on International
Wrongful Conviction Day. The Court of Appeal, New York's highest court,
declined to overturn his conviction in 1995.........Wright has always maintained his innocence. His conviction was based
largely on the testimony of a felon named Martin ''Danny'' Williams III,
who had 28 burglary charges reduced to a trespassing case in exchange
for testifying against Wright as a government witness. Williams testified that Wright confessed to the arson two weeks after
the fire, while he and Wright were smoking cocaine. During the trial,
Wright testified in his defense and said he did not set the fire. He
also said he never spoke to Williams and that he was watching television
at home when the fire occurred. "I would like the court to know I'm innocent," Wright said to the judge during his 1988 sentencing. It was one of the first trials in Rensselaer County and the Capital Region in which cameras were allowed in the courtroom. In court Monday, McDermott said he was prepared to call John J.
Lentini of Scientific Fire Analysis, LLC of Florida, and Jason
Karasinski of Fire Research and Technology near Rochester to testify as
expert witnesses about the failings of the arson evidence presented
during Wright’s 1988 trial. McDermott said his motion to set aside the verdict challenged the
validity of the investigators' conclusion that, even though they
couldn't find an accellerant, the burn patterns indicated one was used.
McDermott said new technology has shown that the burn patterns cited in
the earlier investigation can no longer be used to conclude an
accellerant was used to start a fire. "Had jury at the time been informed of the true interpretations of
the evidence, based on current fire science, they would not have been
able to classify the fire as an arson," McDermott said. Wright’s family went to McDermott about seven years ago seeking his
help. He is a former chief assistant district attorney in Albany County
and handled arson cases as a prosecutor.“Richard has been sitting in jail for 30 years waiting to be
cleared,” McDermott said. “Subsequent research and testing has proven
that would the evidence was wrong and not to be trusted.”"
