There are a few subplots in the Yogurt Shop Murder case. The false confession/conviction of Springsteen and Scott was certainly the angle that has dominated the news of late. There have been far too many of these in Texas. I do like the place and have always had a good time there, great food and lots of good live music and people are really friendly and don't hold my Blue State/Liberal opinions against me. Still, I can't help but get the feeling that the Rich and Powerful have pretty much free reign and run roughshod over the rights of everyone else; particularly anyone with the bad judgment to be poor.
I really think it is time for the Travis County DA's office to come clean and admit they were wrong. Yes, they will have to pay out a couple of settlements and perhaps re-open the investigation. Is that such a bad thing?
Anyone who still doubts that "false confessions" really exist needs to brush up on this case (but there are plenty of others). This is also a pretty good example of why we have a Fifth Amendment and the Miranda Decision. The kids confessed only after they were roughed up and threatened with a gun (there is a video tape of that). There was no other evidence and the details of the crime that were laid out in the signed confession were all wrong; particularly the part about the unknown Perp who raped and left DNA on Amy Ayers.
That DNA is probably the best clue available. Officially, that sample has never been matched to anything on CODIS. I give Texas Law Enforcement the benefit of the doubt that they would never "hold back" on a criminal investigation in order to defend a law suit.
If the Perp has managed to avoid a felony arrest in the 20 years following the crime, interesting questions are raised. This was not an ordinary "robbery gone bad". The Perp(s) came with gasoline. The plan all along was to rob rape, kill and then torch the place. This is the sort of thing a stone cold sociopath might do. Kind of scary that he could then settle back into the life of a law abiding citizen. There is also the problem/possibility that the matching sample is sitting in some storeroom waiting for funds to be available to test it, log it and submits it to CODIS. If there really is no "hit" out there, very likely the case will never be solved. I'm sure any valid leads were dropped once they got the confession from Springsteen and Scott. It is probably hopelessly cold by now.