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DNA Frees Conn. Inmate

By TChris, Section Innocence Cases
Posted on Wed Jun 07, 2006 at 07:37:19 AM EST
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by TChris

It seems as if a week rarely passes without news that another inmate has been cleared by DNA testing. Today's victim of an incorrect identification ("arrested after a woman identified him from a photo as the man who abducted her as she was getting into her car") is James Tillman, convicted of rape and kidnapping 18 years ago. He walked out of prison yesterday, thanks to the good work of the Connecticut Innocence Project and a prosecutor who agreed that Tillman deserved a new trial.

As the judge pointed out, eyewitness testimony can be "devastatingly inaccurate." Think of all the people behind bars who were convicted of crimes that don't involve DNA evidence. How many of them are innocent victims of a mistaken identification? With no hope of DNA testing to exonerate them, how many will serve their entire sentences for crimes they didn't commit?

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    DNA Frees Conn. Inmate | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: DNA Frees Conn. Inmate (none / 0) (#1)
    by eric on Wed Jun 07, 2006 at 08:23:29 AM EST
    Frankly, little can be done. Understanding that one's perception can be very wrong is important and the onus should be on prosecuters and the eyewitnesses themselves to realize this. Unfortunately, prosecuters just want to win, and eyewitnesses are usually pretty sure about what they "saw". It's sad.

    Re: DNA Frees Conn. Inmate (none / 0) (#2)
    by Daniel Millstone on Wed Jun 07, 2006 at 09:16:13 AM EST
    The criminal bar needs to take the Judge's words quoted above to heart. Juries fall for eyewitness testimony because it feels credible. Jurors think they'd be able to pick out a bad guy if they were the victim. Jurors swollow eye witness testimony without chewing it. Fixing this means allowing and carrying out careful voir dire on the issue, allowing testimony and evidence on the limits of eye witness testimony and clear jury instructions.

    Re: DNA Frees Conn. Inmate (none / 0) (#3)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Jun 07, 2006 at 03:03:47 PM EST
    If my impression is correct, the prosecutor, whose job is just as necessary as that of the defense attorney, acted professionally and not out of self interest or outside agendas. Is this possible?

    Re: DNA Frees Conn. Inmate (none / 0) (#4)
    by Johnny on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 12:08:19 AM EST
    And yet, some people wil vehemently insist that no innocent person has ever been killed by the state.

    Re: DNA Frees Conn. Inmate (none / 0) (#5)
    by jondee on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 12:29:16 AM EST
    In non-war zones that is.

    DNA Frees Conn. Inmate | 5 comments (5 topical)