Court: Man convicted in 1983 killing should get new trial Associated Press 8 hrs ago SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man convicted three years ago in the 1983 murder of his former girlfriend in her San Francisco Bay Area home has been granted a new trial by a state appeals court because the defense lawyer never told the jury the name of another man whose DNA was found under the victim’s fingernails. Sherill Smothers was sentenced in 2018 to 25 years to life in prison for the fatal stabbing of Marsha Carter, 25, in December 1983 in the Richmond home where she lived with her four children. Her body was found in the trunk of a car in West Sacramento 10 days later. Smothers was charged after DNA testing found his blood in the victim’s bathroom, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.