Swift murder conviction vacated, new trial ordered

A man who has spent the past 13 years in prison for murder will receive a new trial after Cayuga County Judge Thomas Leone vacated the original conviction during a Cayuga County Supreme Court session Thursday.

Sammy Swift, 54, who was serving a 25 years to life sentence for the 1994 murder of Stephen DeLuca Sr., said that if the jury had received new DNA evidence that showed Swift's blood was not at the scene, he never would have been convicted.

During Swift's trial in 1995, Jim Vargason, who was the Cayuga County District Attorney at the time, said that blood evidence found at DeLuca's apartment could link Swift to the scene.