DNA Clears Man of Two Child Murders

By JEFFREY GOLD
AP
ELIZABETH, N.J. (May 16) -- A man who served more than two decades in prison for the rape and murder of two children had his convictions thrown out Tuesday after an advanced DNA test showed that a neighbor may have been responsible for the crimes.

full story here: http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dna-clears-man-of-two-child-murders/20070515231709990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

thank GOD!i pray that he is able to recover the bond of his life as a free man.his is a testimony to be heard and learned from.to actually be that close to losing your freedom over someone else's actions.
wouldnt it be nice to have dna bacsearch where an inmate can appeal to have dna tests taken for his defense?free of course.

It'd be nice if the state worked as hard to publicize his status as an innocent man as they undoubtedly have to brand him as as a murderer and sex offender.

One wonders, too, whether in the 20+ years since his original conviction, the actual perpetrator has committed any additional crimes. Perhaps the state has an apology ready for any additional victims?

Officials should pay out the wazoo for convicting the wrong person!

This is exactly why the DP scares me...I was always PRO DP and lately all of these people are either walking out of jail from DR or in General Population. I don't get it...It scares me that our technology was not good enough back then...Even now our technology doesn't always get it right.

I saw this mans story on CNN and AOL yesterday and I thought wow, this man KNEW he did not do this and sat there in jail for two decades and here I am waiting my sentencing knowing what I did was wrong and that I should be punished...

God Bless everyone...

$500,000 is not enough of a compansation for what they've done to this man!!!

and the sad thing is - there are inmates on the row who are innocent, and in their cases has never been any DNA evidence! There is no hope for them! They will never be able to prove their innocence. The DNA thing works only for crimes like rape combined with murder. What if someone shot a person, and the wrong person gets convicted? The wrong person can never prove his/her innocence. That's scary

The exoneration of an increasing number of prisoners by DNA evidence DOES potentially have a benefit for those whose cases do not and cannot involve DNA. The error rate being revealed by the DNA testing is presumably more or less constant across the board, and in time at least, should lead to further review of other cases where a conviction was obtained via evidence of a form that has been proven to be unreliable in other cases proven to be false by DNA.

One can hope, at least. By some estimates, as many of 30% of American inmates are innocent of the crime which put them behind bars.

"should lead to further review of other cases where a conviction was obtained via evidence of a form that has been proven to be unreliable in other cases proven to be false by DNA."

but there is this guy - dieter riechmann - he was convicted 20 years ago for a murder he didn't commit. And now even the real shooter confessed to the crime dieter was sentenced to death for! And guess what: even though ANOTHER MAN confessed to the crime, the US supreme court just denied dieter's appeal. I guess Dieter is now awaiting his execution date to be set. That is AWFUL.

Unfortunately what SHOULD be true and what is true are not always the same things. The case you describe is utterly absurd. Perhaps this one needs to be tried in the court of public opinion--publicity certainly cannot hurt.

Strange that our delightful Supreme Court routinely rules that a confession is enough to convict, but not enough to exonerate. Mr. Riechmann's case is by no means an isolated incident.

I live in NJ and when I first saw this on the news it broke my heart. My hubby is also in prison with a Life sentence for something he did not do and I think it is horrible what the state has done to this man! He has lost 20 years of his life! And I really don't think the state or the DOC gives a rat's behind. I hope he sues the crap out of them and can get on with the rest of his life and live in peace! My man has 16 months left before he sees parole. He has done 24 years and I pray every night they let him go.

makes me feel sad to hear stories like this.

This man had the higher powers working in his favor. What is really sad is those that have been proven innocent AFTER the execution. I hope that this man will get a fair chance at life now.....although we all know how that goes unfortunately. It seems that the "brand" is there even though he has been proven innocent. Unfortunately the bad is always remembered more than the good. :(

How would any one get over that? How on earth could you put it in the past and move on? and after 20 years incarceration how could you fit back in society doing the normal day to day things? The world has changed so much in that time. Imagine being locked up like a caged animal and then be told " sorry mate we stuffed up, heres your things and off you go." A related question: I've heard that DNA from old cases doesn't have to be tested that lawyers more or less have to beg for it and even if it is another persons DNA it doesn't mean you will be released. Is that true?

I entirely agree. There should be significant compensation involved, and every possible assistance in finding a decent place to live, a job if the person wants it, and any other need s/he may have.

There's a rather good documentary on the subject, entitled "After Innocence" if I recall correctly. It follows the lives of several exonerated inmates and shows all too well how few resources are available to help them even live independently, much less regain anything like their original lives.

Byron Halsey just completed his first month outside the walls! He is on electronic monitoring and living in northern NJ where is has already obtained a job from a man who heard about his plight. He returns to court in early July and is hopeful that the case against him will be dropped and he can walk out a free man! He is also busy doing the publicity/lecture thing w/lawyers from The Innocence Project...he was on Charlie Rose [PBS] earlier this week. Overall he is doing well and taking his adjustment as a slow and evolving process. He has a lot of support from newly found friends, his family, church, and his attorneys. Please keep good thoughts for him as he heads back to court in a few weeks.

This is why the death penalty should be abolished in ALL states! There is too much room for error, human and otherwise.