Thomas Doswell of Pennsylvania and Larry Peterson of New Jersey recent­ly had their con­vic­tions over­turned as a direct result of DNA test­ing. Each defen­dant had serverd 18 years in prison. In Peterson’s case, the pros­e­cu­tion had sought the death penal­ty but the jury could not agree and he was sen­tenced to life. His case marked the first time a New Jersey court has over­turned a con­vic­tion because of DNA evi­dence. Both rever­sals stemmed from the work of attor­neys at the Innocence Project of the Benjamin Cardoza School of Law in New York City.

Though he has con­sis­tent­ly main­tained his inno­cence, Doswell was con­vict­ed of the 1986 rape of a nurs­ing home employ­ee. After a request for DNA test­ing filed by the Innocence Project, a Common Pleas court judge ordered evi­dence from the crime scene test­ed and the results cleared Doswell of any involve­ment in the crime. He was released from prison fol­low­ing the state’s with­draw­al of charges. In 1999, Doswell had filed a motion with the court to allow DNA test­ing, but a judge ruled in favor of pros­e­cu­tors who chal­lenged the motion because it was filed three weeks too late. Really, this could have been tak­en care of in 1999.… I don’t see it as a vic­to­ry. It’s a major loss of 18 years that nobody can com­pen­sate; nobody can give back. This is a guy who got rail­road­ed,” said one of Doswell’s attor­neys, James DePasquale. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 30, 2005; Associated Press, Aug. 22005).

In New Jersey, the review­ing judge has ordered a new tri­al for Peterson based on the results of DNA test­ing on 30 hairs found at the crime scene and mir­cro­scop­ic exam­i­na­tions of 130 addi­tion­al hairs that were not DNA test­ed. Prosecutors stat­ed that they will retry the case based on the tes­ti­mo­ny of five wit­ness­es who claim Peterson told them about the killing. Peterson remains incar­cer­at­ed. The bot­tom line is, wit­ness­es lie. DNA does­n’t,” said defense attor­ney Vanessa Potkin of the Innocence Project. (Associated Press, July 30, 2005).

See Innocence.

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