A man will be tried for the fifth time for the same crime, the 1996 double-murder of a millionaire and his home health aide, according to a new court ruling.
The first two trials of Selwyn Days, 46, for murder in the deaths of Archie Harris, 79, and his aide, Betty Ramcharan, at Harris’ Westchester home ended in hung juries. A third ended in a conviction that was thrown out.
On Wednesday, the guilty verdict at his fourth trial was also thrown out by a state appeals court, leading to a fifth trial for the double slaying.
The court found Days was improperly barred at his last trial from presenting testimony from two expert witnesses on false confessions.
He made a taped confession, but prosecutors had scant forensic evidence at the most recent trial, in 2011. They still scored a conviction, but Days’ legal team argued that the confession was coerced by cops desperate for a scapegoat.
They also claimed that Harris was a vulnerable mark for homicide detectives because he was “borderline mentally retarded.”
“We will be reviewing our options on how we will proceed,” a Westchester DA spokesman said.