Third Trial Ordered for Man Accused of Killing Young Niece

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court has granted a convicted murderer a third trial.

Forty-one-year-old Josue Fraga is serving a life prison sentence for sexually assaulting and killing his 2-year-old niece, Samantha Fraga, in Worthington seven years ago.

After Fraga was initially found guilty in his first trial, new evidence emerged and a second trial was ordered. It resulted in another conviction.

KMSP-TV reports the Supreme Court ordered a third trial Wednesday after determining a juror in the second trial could have been biased. The trial judge denied a defense motion not to seat the juror who said it would be hard to be unbiased.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said it recognized the girl's relatives have been through the pain of two trials, but that the judicial system rests on the premise of unbiased jurors.