Cook County prosecutors seek new trial in 1996 fatal arson

CHICAGO (AP) - Cook County prosecutors say a man convicted in 1996 of a fire that killed two people should get a new trial because advances in science have invalidated previous evidence.

Adam Gray is serving a mandatory sentence of life without parole, the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/29yysLH ) reported. Prosecutors from Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's Conviction Integrity Unit suggested a new trial for him in recently filed court papers.

Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Alvarez, cited advancements in fire science as the decision to agree to a new trial even though the evidence collected by Gray's attorneys is essentially unchanged since prosecutors opposed a new trial a year ago.

Gray was found guilty of setting fire to a two-flat on the southwest side of Chicago after a girl who lived there rejected him in March 1993. The girl and her family escaped, but 54-year-old Peter McGuiness and his sister, 74-year-old Margaret Mesa, died.

Two of the nation's leading fire scientists, John Lentini and Gerald Hurst, evaluated the arson investigation.

Hurst said alligator charring and burn patterns found at the scene weren't indicators of arson and that the fire investigators in the case had failed to do a thorough enough investigation to rule out accidental causes.

Lentini determined that petroleum distillate found in a milk jug in a nearby alley was different than the substance in wood at the scene. He said neither was an effective accelerant.

With information from Lentini and Hurst, prosecutors said one year ago that they were still confident in Gray's conviction. They pointed to his confession to buying gasoline to set fire to a two-flat in the southwest side of Chicago as a reason to stand by the conviction. Gray has since denied the admissions, saying he confessed due to pressure from the officers questioning him.

One of Gray's lawyers, Terri Mascherin, said she's pleased that prosecutors had agreed to grant Gray a new trial.

"We truly are working cooperatively with the (prosecutors), and they're doing the right thing," Mascherin said.

Daly said prosecutors plan to retry Gray, but it is unlikely that Alvarez would still be in office by the time a new trial was scheduled because she lost the Democratic primary to Kim Foxx.

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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com