Man Convicted Of 1981 Double Murder Wants New Trial

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A man serving two life sentences for killing a man and a woman in Harford County in 1981 is asking for a new trial.

Lawyers for John Norman Huffington will be in court Wednesday in Frederick County. They say types of evidence used to convict Huffington, including microscopic hair analysis, have now been found to be unreliable. They say an FBI agent who testified that hairs found at the scene of the murder matched Huffington's hair gave testimony that was false, misleading and unscientific.

Huffington was convicted of killing Joseph Hudson and Diane Becker in Harford County on May 25, 1981.

To get a new trial, Huffington's lawyers have to convince a judge there's a significant possibility jurors would have reached a different verdict if they had the new evidence.

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