DNA A-OK

From the AP via Wash Times:

A judge freed…45-year-old [Alan] Crotzer after DNA testing and other evidence convinced prosecutors he was not involved in the 1981 armed robbery and rapes that led to his 130-year prison sentence.

"It's been a long time coming," said Crotzer, his black hair graying at the temples. "Thank God for this day."

Crotzer walked free more than three years after he wrote to the Innocence Project in New York, a legal clinic that seeks to exonerate inmates through DNA testing.

More here.

Innocence Project info here.

Reason's Ronald Bailey on DNA evidence here.

Gratuitous Monica Lewinsky, who's really sorta the Rosa Parks of DNA evidence, here.

Comments

[Mike Laursen]

Have you seen the San Jose Mercury New's investigation of jury trial appeals in Santa Clara County? They discovered that over a third of the 727 cases they reviewed had been mishandled:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/stolenjustice/

[joe]

Like Rosa Parks, Monica Lewinsky was a brave freedom fighter who realized that it is better to die on your feet than live on...um...to live...

Oh the hell with it.

[Chris Grieb]

DNA is freeing wrongfully convicted innocent people and has confirmed the guilth of rightfully convicted people such as Roger Coleman. It does work in all cases and there are other innocent people in prison.

[smartass]

DNA is freeing wrongfully convicted innocent people and has confirmed the guilth of rightfully convicted people such as Roger Coleman. It does work in all cases and there are other innocent people in prison.

And your point is?

[methodman]

It does work in all cases

Even the OJ Simpson jury saw through it when DNA was planted by the dastardly Mark Fuhrman.

On the flipside of that, actual killers will likely try (or continue, as the case may be) to plant false and misleading DNA "evidence" at crime scenes.

Anyway, cheers to this guy for getting cleared.

[Skeptico]

Quote from the released guy:

"Thank God for this day."

Thank God? Doesn't he mean "thank science"? God left him there for 24 years and yet he still thanks God.

[Stevo Darkly]

No... Science sat on its ass for 24 years until someone finally listened to God's inspiration and did the DNA tests.

See? It's all in your perspective.

[theOneState]

Prosecutor Mike Sinacore congratulated him. "Trying to fix an error in the system is just as important as trying to convict someone who is guilty," he said.

Uh, yeah, *just as* important.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

joe:

Have you visited the DC museum (I believe it's the American History Museum), where they display all the inaugural gowns of the first ladies? I've heard that they will add the blue dress to the exhibit. I believe the sponsor will be Stainmaster.

[Stretch]

Thank God? Doesn't he mean "thank science"? God left him there for 24 years and yet he still thanks God.

C'mon, I think we can cut this guy a little slack. He can thank Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for all I care. And hey, if his belief in god helped him deal with, you know, being wrongfully imprisoned for 24 years I'm not gonna be the one to tell him that he's a fool.

[MP]

Thank God? Doesn't he mean "thank science"? God left him there for 24 years and yet he still thanks God.

Sending innocent people to prison for 20 years is all part of God's master plan to teach humbleness to humanity. Don't believe me? Well, you're next.

[rdkraus]

No thanks for the lawyers involved?

[Phil]

Yeah, theOneState, *just as* important. See, if you don't concentrate on fixing the errors, you end up convicting more innocent people, which means -- by definition -- the guilty ones go free. I mean, it did occur to you that someone else has in all likelihood spent 24 years unpunished for these crimes, right?

[Wild Pegasus]

I think we can all agree, regardless of political persuasion, that the Innocence Project is awesome.

- Josh

[NoStar]

Methodman,
Wasn't it Lt. Vanatter who brought OJ's blood samples to the crime scene? Fuhrman was responsible for moving a glove from the crime scene and putting it in OJ's property.

[joe]

You know, if it wasn't the LAPD, the story about the planted blood wouldn't have been credible at all.

[OJ]

I just wanted to update you all about me finding the killers. I've been searching all the golf courses in California and Florida and so far have come up nothing.

In the meantime, I've snuck in a round or two. My game is pretty good, but I keep slicing it.. SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! Ha ha! I keep slicing it..SLICE! Ha ha! SLICE!!

[Number 6]

You know, if it wasn't the LAPD, the story about the planted blood wouldn't have been credible at all.

I disagree. Anyone in authority should be regarded with suspicion. Also, police dishonesty is not exactly unheard of. In Leawood, Kansas, near where I grew up, a teenager was pulled over in a newish Camaro. (Not uncommon in that upscale suburb.) The police decided to search for drugs. They searched for well over an hour. They tore the car's interior apart. After an hour, they "found" an once of pot on the dashboard. This was shortly after civil forfeitures came into vogue, and, you guessed it, they seized the car. It took close to ten years for the family to get it back.
Does that prove anything about cops in general? No. But it does give one pause. The Innocence Project's stories, on the other hand, indicate that we should be terrified of the justice system.

[wetblanket]

If you're all interested in this issue, go see After Innocence, a new documentary that follows 7 men who were exonerated through DNA evidence (with the help of the Innocence Project).

[biologist]

Phil, I think theonestate's point is that it's more important (not just equally important) to not have a guilty man in prison than to find someone to convict of a given crime.

if that's not theonestate's point, it's my point.

Phil's point is important too, but I'd rather make sure we're not punishing the innocent, even if we can't point a finger at someone.

[biologist]

d'oh!

...it's more important (not just equally important) to not have [an innocent] man in prison...

sorry, need more sleep

[ChrisO]

If the golf shoe doesn't fit, you must acquit.

[Swillfredo Pareto]

Free the West Memphis 3. Who else is going to die of mysterious circumstances with John Mark Byer's DNA on the murder weapon before that piece of work is imprisoned?

And where's Vicki Carr's new album?

[Phil]

You're right, biologist -- my addled brain didn't even look at it that way. TheOneState, if that's what you were saying, my apologies; it's a topic I'm a little tetchy about, so I tend to jump to conclusions.