Suspect in cold case found not guilty

TAMPA -- Six jurors acquitted Albert Leon Dooley, 57, in a 25-year-old murder case after two hours of deliberations today.

Dooley, who had been in jail for 18 months, had been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Donna Sheffield after Tampa police tested DNA from the case. Sheffield was found alongside a road late on Jan. 27, 1983. Witnesses said they had seen Sheffield lean into a Ford Mustang when four shots rang out, and that the driver put her in the car and drove away.

Prosecutors said Dooley was driving the car, according to statements from his mother, who owned the car. But defense attorneys said several people had access to the car, including a group of women who were stopped just hours after the murder. No witnesses could place Dooley in the car. No physical evidence linked him to the crime, but DNA tests showed that Sheffield had been in the car.

The issue of the passage of time and witnesses' memories loomed large throughout the trial this week.

Justin George, Times staff writer