Baltimore City prosecutors will not give up on the 1988 murder convictions of James Owens and James Thompson despite new DNA evidence, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

If James Owens, 41, and James Thompson, 47, overturn their 1988 murder convictions, they could become the seventh and eighth men in Maryland history released from prison because of postconviction DNA exonerations, according to the Maryland Public Defender?s Office.