nortynou
02-23-2008, 08:19 PM
In 1988, one man confessed to a murder he didn't commit – and accused an innocent friend
07:49 PM CST on Saturday, February 23, 2008
By DIANE JENNINGS / The Dallas Morning News
MADISON, Wis. – How could you do it?
The question dogs Christopher Ochoa. It always will.
In 1988, Mr. Ochoa, then a naive 22-year-old, confessed to a brutal rape and murder he didn't commit, and accused an innocent friend, Richard Danziger, of the same crime to avoid the death penalty.
The two men were sentenced to life in prison. Twelve years later, they were exonerated by DNA evidence and among the first of a parade of people who have made Texas the national leader in acknowledging wrongful convictions. Their shocking tale still reverberates around the state Capitol, where legislators keep passing laws to fix flaws that the case revealed in the criminal justice system.
Click Here For Full Article (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022408dntexochoa.2a691c6.html)
07:49 PM CST on Saturday, February 23, 2008
By DIANE JENNINGS / The Dallas Morning News
MADISON, Wis. – How could you do it?
The question dogs Christopher Ochoa. It always will.
In 1988, Mr. Ochoa, then a naive 22-year-old, confessed to a brutal rape and murder he didn't commit, and accused an innocent friend, Richard Danziger, of the same crime to avoid the death penalty.
The two men were sentenced to life in prison. Twelve years later, they were exonerated by DNA evidence and among the first of a parade of people who have made Texas the national leader in acknowledging wrongful convictions. Their shocking tale still reverberates around the state Capitol, where legislators keep passing laws to fix flaws that the case revealed in the criminal justice system.
Click Here For Full Article (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022408dntexochoa.2a691c6.html)