Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Set Free in Time For Thanksgiving

By TChris, Section Innocence Cases
Posted on Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 02:06:56 PM EST
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It was a happy Thanksgiving for Steven Barnes -- the first he's had since some time before 1989, when he went to prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit.

The 42-year-old man walked out of state prison Tuesday after spending nearly half his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit. An Oneida County Court judge set Mr. Barnes free after DNA testing exonerated him of the murder and rape of a 16-year-old girl.

To his credit, the district attorney didn't stand in the way of Barnes' freedom.

The district attorney conceded that Mr. Barnes "would never have been arrested" if today's DNA technology had existed in 1985. The search for the real killer has been renewed.

Happy Thanksgiving, Steven Barnes.

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Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Set Free in Time For Thanksgiving | 7 comments (7 topical)

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I would have to wonder (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by lentinel on Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 06:35:48 PM EST

what was the evidence presented against this man?
Eyewitnesses? Circumstantial?

It makes one despair.

: Probably wrong place at the wrong time (none / 0) (#7)
by Fabian on Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 08:35:18 AM EST

plus a high visibility case.

: bad science (none / 0) (#8)
by jes on Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 03:42:37 PM EST

Barnes' conviction highlights the pressing need for national standards in forensic science, the Innocence Project said. Eyewitness testimony at his trial was shaky, but forensic testimony linked him to the crime. The forensic evidence included testimony that soil on Barnes' truck tires was similar to soil at the crime scene and testimony that an imprint on the outside of Barnes' truck matched the fabric pattern on a particular brand of jeans the victim wore when she was killed. Neither soil comparison nor jean pattern imprinting is scientifically valid, and they should not be relied on in court without proper bounds and/or experts testifying for both parties, the Innocence Project said.
see the Innocense Project for more details.

More Thanksgiving pardon news (none / 0) (#3)
by herb the verb on Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 07:50:21 PM EST

Can be had at the post I put up at Correntewire

Why is it better to be a turkey?

: Any idea on death penalty clemency? (none / 0) (#4)
by herb the verb on Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 07:53:09 PM EST

I did extensive (I thought) google searches prior to posting that to get information on presidential pardons, commutations, clemency, whatever, of death row inmates. I couldn't find any specifics. By design, assuredly.
Any one else have any luck?

Another reason to (none / 0) (#5)
by NYShooter on Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 11:04:32 PM EST

"fastrack" and streamline death penalty cases.

Just because a few hundred (thousand?) wrongfully convicted inmates have been found innocent, that's no reason to curtail State mandated killing.

These are just the kind of stories them lily-livered, latte sipping, Librul do-gooders will use as an excuse to abolish "ole sparky."

Besides, if you did away with the death penalty, there'd be nothing for the Governors of Texas and Florida to do.

they can still make bets (none / 0) (#6)
by cpinva on Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 01:19:00 AM EST

on their state's college football teams.