Anthony Caravello was con­vict­ed of rape and mur­der for a crime he alleged­ly com­mit­ted in 1983 at age 15 in Florida. The pros­e­cu­tion sought the death penal­ty. Now DNA evi­dence from the crime scene points to anoth­er indi­vid­ual and may result in his exon­er­a­tion. The state is not con­test­ing his release. Caravello has an IQ of 67 and was con­vict­ed large­ly on the basis of his own state­ments, which he says were obtained from him after beat­ings dur­ing his inter­ro­ga­tion. At his sen­tenc­ing, the judge com­ment­ed, ​“I’ll tell you this, Anthony: If the jury had rec­om­mend­ed death, I would have had you elec­tro­cut­ed.” Instead, he was sen­tenced to life. The pros­e­cu­tion is still pur­su­ing the investigation. 

(B. Skoloff, ​“Defense: DNA clears man con­vict­ed of mur­der, rape,” Miami Herald (Associated Press), Sept. 9, 2009). See Innocence and Juveniles. More inmates have been exon­er­at­ed from death row in Florida (23) than from any other state.

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