A Jacksonville man convicted of a double axe murder in 1999 could win his freedom.
Jason Simpson was found guilty of killing Archie Crook Sr., and Crook's pregnant girlfriend Kimberli Kimbler. He was sentenced to death.
He was back in front of a Jacksonville judge Thursday, 18 years after his conviction.
A 187-page document filed by the defense alleges evidence in Simpson’s case was not stored properly and that the evidence warehouse is overrun with rodents.
A spokesperson said the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office property and evidence warehouse was relocated to a climate-controlled facility more than a decade ago.
The document also alleges several legal and ethical violations.
On page 37, his legal team claims “the state destroyed evidence it knew could exonerate Simpson.”
There are also allegations that Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not properly store evidence in Simpson's case.
Referring to the murder weapon, it says in part that the state’s forensic artist “prepared the axe for trial by mounting it on a cardboard display without any protective covering.”
The state is also accused of failing to maintain evidence after the trial.
According to documents, JSO personnel revealed in post-conviction depositions that “rodents were rampant at the warehouse and there was no refrigeration of biological evidence.”
It went on to say “the exposed axe somehow made its way into the office of former assistant clerk Gail Cole.“
Simpson’s defense team is asking for a new trial for what it calls multiple examples of prosecutorial misconduct.
Testimony will resume on Monday morning.