Lawyers for a man sentenced to life for murder in a 2009 fatal stabbing in Beaverton allege in court that Washington County prosecutors withheld and suppressed key evidence in the case and at least one of the witnesses has retracted his statements.

A federal public defender working with lawyers from Oregon Innocence Project argue that Nicholas Sias, now 39, was wrongfully convicted in 2010 in the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Alexander Hernandez-Apale, who was walking home just before midnight on Aug. 31, 2009.

“Police investigators withheld critical information that should have been disclosed to ensure a fair trial,” lawyers for the Oregon Innocence Project and Federal Public Defender’s office said in a statement. “This hidden evidence—including undisclosed deals and inducements offer

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