April 20, 2017 from the News & Observer
Attorneys for convicted murderer Mark Carver say the case that led to his 2011 conviction for strangling a UNC Charlotte student already hung by its fingertips – and a disputed thread of DNA.
Based on a judge’s ruling Thursday, they say, that grip may have been loosened further.
Superior Court Judge David Lee ordered that DNA evidence collected in 2008 from the scene of Irina Yarmolenko’s killing – evidence that played a major role three years later in Carver’s first-degree murder conviction – undergo updated state lab analysis.
Lee, of Union County, issued his order at the request of Carver’s defense team. Chris Mumma and Cheryl Sullivan, both of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, are seeking a new trial for Carver, 48, a Gaston County man now serving a life sentence without parole.