The California Court of Appeals on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to refute new evidence that shows R&B singer Waymond Anderson is not guilty of murder or release him from prison, where he has spent 13 years for the arson death of a drug addict.
The entertainer known as Suave was sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder following the 1993 fire near the USC campus.
In a writ of habeas corpus filed in October, Anderson, now 40, asked the court to throw out his conviction, contending that new evidence proves he could not have committed the crime. The ruling Wednesday was the result.
The appellate order specifies that an evidentiary hearing must be held in Los Angeles County Superior Court within 120 days at which the district attorney must refute evidence that shows that Anderson was far from the crime scene when the murder occurred. If the district attorney fails to schedule a hearing within four months, Anderson must be released.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley declined to comment. Anderson's lawyer, David L. Bernstein, said his client will be freed.
"What this means is the court found that the evidence we presented is legally sufficient," Bernstein said. "Now it's up to the other side to prove us wrong. I'm confident that our petition will be found meritorious and Waymond will walk."
Anderson, who had a nationwide hit with an updated version of the Motown standard "My Girl" on Capitol Records, was arrested on Jan. 29, 1994, in the driveway of his Calabasas home. Police in bulletproof vests handcuffed him as his wife and 6-year-old son watched.
At the trial, prosecutors convinced a jury that Anderson was a ruthless drug dealer who had torched a drug den near USC on Sept. 18, 1993, setting a man aflame to avenge an unpaid dope debt.
After his arrest, Anderson said he was out of state on the day of the killing. He told authorities that he traveled frequently as an entertainer and could not recall his exact whereabouts, but was confident that his credit card records would show he was not in California. No one ever checked, including his own attorney, who failed to establish an alibi defense for Anderson during the trial.
The district attorney had no fingerprints, DNA or other physical evidence linking Anderson to the crime. Prosecutors relied largely on the testimony of two drug addicts who, according to police, were eyewitnesses. In court, both addicts identified Anderson as the arsonist.
