DNA clears inmate after 17 years in prison for rape - 1,400 More inmates pending.

[Lisa Frye -]

DNA tests clear man after 17 years in prison for rape
By Associated Press
August 27, 2004

DECATUR, Ga. - A man who spent 17 years in prison for rape, kidnapping and robbery has been cleared by new DNA evidence, his lawyers said.

Clarence Harrison, 44, of Decatur, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 on charges of sexually assaulting a hospital employee as she waited for a MARTA bus.

DNA tests of the rape kit used as evidence against Harrison show that he did not commit the rape, said Aimee Maxwell, director of the Georgia Innocence Project.

The Innocence Project was to disclose the new findings at a news conference at the DeKalb County Courthouse on Friday and announce that lawyers will ask for a new trial expected to lead to their client's exoneration.

The Innocence Project has been working on Harrison's case since February 2003, when the group received a letter from him.

Maxwell said that when Harrison was told that the tests showed his DNA did not match the assailant's, he showed no surprise.

"He was very calm about it," she said. "That's because he already knew the answer."

According to a police report, the 25-year-old victim, who worked at Grady Memorial Hospital, was standing at a MARTA bus stop at 6 a.m. Oct. 25, 1986, when a man walked up, struck her in the face and said, "If you scream, I'll kill you right here." He walked her to a wooded area and repeatedly raped and sodomized her, the report said.

The attacker took her money and watch and knocked out two front teeth.

The woman initially identified Harrison from a photographic lineup and later identified him at the trial, Maxwell said.

David Wolfe, an Atlanta lawyer who volunteered to represent Harrison, called the case "one of those examples where technology demonstrates that eyewitness identification and other testimony at trial isn't as reliable as people believe it is."

Maxwell and Wolfe praised the DeKalb County district attorney's office for its cooperation on the DNA tests.

"The office demonstrates what the justice system is about: seeking the truth," Wolfe said.

More than 150 convictions have been overturned nationwide based on new DNA test results, Maxwell said.

The Georgia Innocence Project, founded two years ago, has received letters from more than 1,400 inmates seeking to have their convictions overturned. The project has six open cases and is investigating more than 250 others.

Earlier this month, in its first case, the Innocence Project announced that DNA tests conducted by Forensic Science Associates had validated a jury's verdict that Joe Brown of Lowndes County did rape a Valdosta woman in 1987.

I always find these stories to be so devastating for the ones convicted of a crime they did not committ. I could not imagine being locked up for X amount of years for something I did not do!

[Vincent Sasso]

DNA testing will probably exonerate a number of people in prison. At least for those that are innocent, have a second chance at freedom. I will always be amazed at these kinds of outcomes.

[April Rank]

So exactly when did we start using DNA testing? Because there must be a lot of people before that who are still serving time. Some are guilty and some are innocent. I'd like to know how much a DNA test costs. I bet a lot of old cases could be righted with that technology.

[Denise Garceau]

Here is what is really amazing. There are many people wrongfly convicted in prision not on DNA evidence. Sorrythis is so long but many people do not realize what happens.

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS - HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
The phrase "convicted but innocent" refers to people who have been arrested on criminal charges, most often armed robbery, rape, or murder, who have either pleaded guilty to the charge or have been tried and found guilty, and who, notwithstanding plea or verdict, are in fact innocent. The most common pattern of wrongful conviction involves factors such as eyewitness misidentification, community pressure, and character evidence that the defendant "was in trouble with the law before." Armed robbery, rape, or murder are only mentioned because they are the kinds of wrongful conviction cases that come to public attention, mostly because of the severity of the sentence involved.

It is important to understand what this definition includes and excludes. It includes repeat offenders who may have committed many (or related) crimes, but are innocent of the specific charge for which they have been arrested or convicted. It includes innocent people who, faced with overwhelming evidence against them, such as wrongful identification, perjury, or forged documentation, are greatly tempted to accept the plea bargain that their lawyer so strongly recommends. It excludes people who get "lost in the system", or held without trial for long periods of time while being detained in a jail, out on bond, or simply awaiting charges (such cases are more properly termed wrongful imprisonment). It excludes those who are factually guilty but are found not guilty by reason of the exclusionary rule, or who have escaped justice because of some loophole, police mishandling of evidence, violation of constitutional rights, or reversal upon appeal (there is a difference between being "legally innocent" and complete exoneration because one is factually innocent).

SOME FAMOUS CASES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTION
Captain Alfred Dreyfus (1894) - the so-called "Dreyfus affair" in which other army officers, motivated by anti-semitism, manufactured forgeries, fabricated evidence, and used handwriting analysis to wrongfully convict Dreyfus of selling military secrets to the Germans.

The Scottsboro Boys (1927) - an Alabama case involving nine young black males who were riding a freight train with two white females, and the women alleged that they had been raped. Community pressure and racism against blacks resulted in the death penalty for all but the youngest of the boys, but it turned out the girls had only concocted the story to explain why they were riding the train with blacks.

The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping (1936) - a sensational case in which a German immigrant named Bruno Hauptmann was convicted and executed because Germans at the time in America were convenient scapegoats.

Isidore Zimmerman (1937) - who was a young hotel doorman wrongfully accused of providing guns that were later used in the murder of a police detective. Zimmerman came within 2 hours of his execution before the perjury at the trial was exposed. He won $1 million, but died a broken man 4 months later.

Dr. Sam Sheppard (1954) - the case upon which the TV series and Harrison Ford movie, The Fugitive, is based. Sheppard was a physician convicted of murdering his wife who claimed that a one-armed intruder did it (he was later exonerated and became a professional wrestler).

Randall Dale Adams (1976) - a case immortalized in the movie, The Thin Blue Line and the basis for several other movies, like Kalifornia, which involves a young man from the North traveling south through Texas who is picked up by a killer and gets wrongfully convicted for the killer's crimes. The innocent man signs a vague "confession" (I can't remember what happened after .....) and polygraph results intended to clear him are "inconclusive", so conviction results from pressure for retaliation and animosity against "drifters".

Ivan the Terrible (1987) - Ivan (John) Demjanjuk was the first trial of a Nazi war criminal held in Israel since the trial of Adolf Eichman (1961). Ivan was picked up as a factory worker in Cleveland and deported from the U.S. as a wanted concentration camp guard. Photographic (through-the-years) evidence and eyewitness testimony of survivors along the lines of "That's Ivan, no doubt about it" characterized the trial. Demjanjuk was acquitted only on the narrowest of margins.

Gary Dotson (1989) - an Illinois case involving the first "DNA exoneration". Dotson had already served 10 of 25 years of a wrongful conviction for rape based on a suggestive police photographic array in which, it turns out, was an entirely fictional description of the rapist by the victim, but Dotson had been in trouble with the law before. First, the victim recanted out of conscience. Then, the Governor of Illinois refused to grant a pardon and decreed the victim's recantation false. Dotson and his lawyers then obtained DNA testing which proved to be the crucial exculpatory evidence.
Return to Index

EYEWITNESS ERROR AS A CAUSE OF WRONGFUL CONVICTION
Eyewitness misidentifications are a common cause of wrongful convictions, perhaps the most common cause. Eyewitness testimony is often the most convincing part of a trial. It adds direct evidence to a prosecution that would otherwise be based on circumstantial evidence. Although we know little about the sources of eyewitness error, a substantial number of eyewitness errors are believed to be "good faith" errors; that is, the eyewitness is simply doing what is expected of them, cooperating with suggestive police investigations and lineups. Other errors are due to prejudice (or perceived community prejudice), and may occur mainly in cross-racial identification cases. Other errors are the result of psychological trauma or shock experienced by the eyewitness, and these may be exacerbated by hypnosis or therapy sessions intended to help the eyewitness remember or calm down. And, in numerous other ways eyewitnesses mislead themselves, it is obvious that our criminal justice system has an imperfect way of handling eyewitness identifications and/or balancing the rights of the accused with the inherent power of eyewitness testimony.

Several studies have tried to estimate the error rate, but it appears to jump all over the place. An early study by Borchard (1932) reported that eyewitness error contributed to 45% of the wrongful convictions in his sample. Buckhout (1974) regarded it as the most common cause of wrongful conviction. Rattner (1983) reported that more than 52% of the wrongful convictions he studied involved eyewitness error. For capital cases only, Bedau and Radelet (1987) found a 16% error rate. In the process of making an identification from photographic lineups, Loftus (1979) found that 29% were erroneously chosen. Huff, Rattner & Sagarin's (1996) more recent survey of judges and attorneys found that 60% of judges and 84% of attorneys ranked "accidental eyewitness misidentification" as the most frequent cause of wrongful conviction. In 1999, the APA's Div. 41 (American Psychology-Law Society) reviewed a number of cases that were later overturned, and found an eyewitness error rate of an astonishing 90%.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Better training for police officers, for one thing. the U.S. Attorney General's office has made the following recommendations:

the officer working with the witnesses should not know which person is the suspect

the eyewitness doing a photographic lineup understands that the suspect might or might not be in the lineup

the witness is absolutely certain they have identified the right person

Stronger penalties for officers and/or prosecutors who knowingly conceal, fabricate, or otherwise distort evidence is another solution. Ways should also be explored to reduce the community intimidation and bias factor, eliminate plea bargaining in bad faith, and sanction judges who have had their cases overturned.

If not elimination of the death penalty, then maybe a partial abolition, never applying it in cases relying upon eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence. This may be related to the "collect DNA at every crime scene" movement because of a societal need not to recognize the possibility of error.

Use of forensic psychologists could go a long way if special pretrial (Daubert) hearings were held in cases involving eyewitness testimony. Information about accuracy, validity, and reliability should come out. The courts should permit the use of expert witnesses on eyewitness testimony as well as issue the appropriate cautionary instructions to juries.

A SUMMARY OF ESTIMATOR AND SYSTEM VARIABLES IN EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
Estimator Variables:

Age of witness - children and the elderly tend to be less accurate than adults

Level of confidence - this is not strongly correlated with accuracy of identification

Facial distinctiveness - faces rated highly attractive or highly unattractive are recognized better than other faces

Suspect disguise or changed appearance - this leads to less accuracy in identification

Target salience - it is harder to identify a perpetrator if many people were present at the crime scene

Exposure duration - it is harder to identify a perpetrator if the viewing time is short

Weapon presence - witnesses tend to focus attention on the weapon

Crime seriousness - people tend to be less accurate in identification tests if the the crime is thought to be less serious

Stress and arousal - moderate arousal tends to lead to better acquisition of information

Cross-gender bias - people are more accurate when they identify someone of their own gender

Cross-racial bias - people are more accurate when they identify someone of their own race

Time delay - memory declines over time

Changes in experiential context - it is sometimes difficult to recognize someone if he or she is seen in a different place

Post-event information - this can distort a person's memory, and can also be a system variable since this information can come from an interview

System Variables:
Lineup instruction - if a witness expects the perpetrator to be present in the lineup, he or she may feel obligated to pick someone, even if the perpetrator is not there. The witness should be told that the culprit is not present is a legitimate answer

Foil bias - the suspect should not stand out from the innocent distractors (foils, fillers) in a lineup. The people should wear similar clothing, etc.

Investigator bias - the investigator may unintentionally let the witness know which person in the lineup is the suspect

Presentation bias - a sequential presentation of people in a lineup is better than presenting all people simultaneously

Factors Leading to Wrongful Conviction:
81% of time - Mistaken Identification by eyewitnesses
51% of time - Serology Errors (ABO, protein blood typing)
50% of time - Police Misconduct
45% of time - Prosecutorial Misconduct
35% of time - Forensic Hair Comparison Errors
34% of time - Junk - Sloppy Science admitted at trial
32% of time - Bad Lawyering
22% of time - False Confessions
20% of time - Deliberately False witness testimony
19% of time - Deliberately False snitching by informants
7% of time - Other Forensic Science errors
1% of time - DNA testing errors

Race and Mistaken Identification:
44% of time - Caucasian misidentifying Blacks
25% of time - Caucasian misidentifying Caucasian
21% of time - Blacks misidentifying Blacks
4% of time - Latino misidentifying Latino
3% of time - Caucasian misidentifying Latino
1% of time - Latino misidentifying Blacks

SOURCES OF DISTORTION AND ERROR IN MEMORY
Almost everyone remembers their grades in high school as being higher than they actually were. Almost everyone fabricates a story passed on to them. In the first case, autobiographical memory is distorted. In the second case, recollection is distorted. Both are examples of cognitive error. When mistakes are made with memory on the witness stand, all three are involved: cognitive error, autobiographical distortion, and recollective distortion. Accuracy is the opposite of distortion, and the central theme of eyewitness psychology. Recall is the opposite of error, and the central theme of law. Memory, of course, is all about duration, or time. This essay attempts to spell out some of the complex, and often surprising, relationships between all these factors.

A variety of factors affect accuracy and recall. The most controversial set of factors is between accuracy and confidence. Next would be the meaning of shifts from past to present tense in verbal representations of recall. Besides the inherent problems of being able to talk about something, affect or emotion affect memory in complex ways. Recollective distortion occurs most frequently during the emotional high points in a narrative. Likewise, the more emotional one is in reminiscing over their earlier years, the more autobiographical distortion can be expected. It is commonly believed that life events accompanied by strong negative affect or emotion are remembered with greater difficulty than events accompanied by less intensity, or valence, of the affect. There seems to be a curvilinear, or Yerkes-Dodson relationship between emotion and recall. People sometimes develop so-called "recovered memories" about negative things, but they are less willing, when faced with the truth, to change their false beliefs about negative things than they are about positive things, which are more easily distorted or fabricated, unless they are extreme fabrications. The processes of emotion and memory may be so idiosyncratic that generalizations are precluded.

Memory is assisted by imagery.* Imagery can consist of sight (visual), sound (auditory), or bodily sensation (somatic).* Imagery of a visual nature is particularly helpful with autobiographical memory, but if a strong emotion is involved, somatic imagery is prevalent.* False events can be easily placed in memory by imagery, such as repeatedly showing someone a fake picture of themselves as a child, or by "brainwashing" a person by repeatedly inundating them with strong sensory information. This is because rehearsal is one of the most powerful aspects of remembering. Forced manipulation of rehearsal reduces confidence, but the memory remains just as strong as if it were self-generated.

Memories are affected by trauma in unusual ways. Trauma is a more narrower term than stress, referring to catastrophic events or events of short duration and high intensity. Here, what matters is the attention aspect of remembering, whether a person's attention habits are driven by a locus of internal control or a locus of external control. It also depends upon how severe the trauma is, of course. Generally, a person with an internal locus of control is going to forget more details about an event than a person with an external locus of control. Self-centered people don't pay much attention to what goes on around them.

Gender, age, and ethnicity differences exist with memory. Gender differences appear early on, with mothers socializing girls to remember things more emotionally. At young ages, memory is very suggestible. Ethnic factors tend to work in favor of remembering intra-ethnic details, leaving cross-ethnic memory widely susceptible to distortion. In general, women prove superior to men in recalling things like weight, height, and hair color, and people between the ages of 18 and 29 tend to fall in the age group making the best identifications of other people.

How memories are elicited, prompted, or interviewed out of a person play a large role in distortion and error, mostly through the mechanism of suggestion, and secondly via the mechanism of contamination. Probably the only way to produce a complete and accurate recollection is to let the person, at the outset, provide an unstructured narrative account of the events in question, in their own words, to get out all the vividness and detail. Innovations in cognitive interviewing methodology also hold promise, but there is always the danger of confirmatory bias on the part of interviewers.

Last but not least, stress can have important effects on memory, but there is controversy in both the child and adult memory literature regarding whether stress hinders or facilitates memory of an event. Numerous researchers have found no relation between stress and memory. Some have found young children remember better from high stress conditions, and that older children remember less from high stress conditions. The Yerkes-Dodson (1908) U-shaped curve was based on the relation between stress and memory where the highest level of recall was for events of moderate stress. It is extremely difficult to calibrate stress, however, and a lot depends upon a person's anxiety levels. Stressful autobiographical memories may also be influenced by emotion. So-called stressful "flashbulb memories", such as when a President was assassinated, a Space Shuttle exploded, or some Wartime event, also tend to be moderated by friends, family, school, and the media. If someone is under stress, their attention tends to focus on the cause and/or effects of the stress. Therefore, in most cases, it seems reasonable to say that most of the time stress serves as a distracter, that is, unless the event to-be-remembered is somehow tied into the focus the person has. People who are stressed by violence and crime, for example, should therefore make good eyewitnesses when they actually observe violence or crime. Likewise, people who have a military background and are gun aficionados are more likely to make good eyewitnesses to violent crime. There is thus little reason to believe in the Yerkes-Dodson "law" since it has been extensively critiqued (Christianson 1992), and its application to eyewitness performance may be unwarranted in some cases. Some conditions of stress seem to produce external loci of control and a type of focus which actually make for better, not worse, accuracy and recall.

[Vincent Sasso]

Denise,
That post may have been long, but well worth the post. I thought the post was extremely interesting; indeed, social and psychological behavior is sometimes scary, when it leads to wrongful convictions. Thanks for this great post!

[Lori A Marshall]

I live in Illinois and we have had many inmates released in the past few years after DNA testing proved them innocent of the crime they were convicted of, or someone else was found to be the truly guilty party. Due to this, our former Governor put a halt to all executions until each case could be re-evaluated. This is one reason I'm intrigued by the Scott Peterson case, I read the transcripts daily and the erroneous information the media reports vs what is actually testified to is amazing. I may have the minority opinion where this particular case is concerned, but I truly feel we should wait to hear all the evidence before convicting this man based on what the media has reported.

If the evidence in any case does not support guilt, I feel a defendant should be found not guilty (which does not mean innocent). If it were my son or daughter, I would want to believe in our constititional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. There are too many people recently released from prison who should never have been there. I wouldn't want to take that chance and have an innocent person's blood on my hands, or conscience. I intend to be the type of investigator who reports the facts without bias and without caving to influence from one side or the other; the truth is not negotiable. I strongly believe in the the words "the truth shall set you free".

[Daniel Clark]

Hello,
I just want to say that DNA testing is the best thing that we could have. I wish that we could have had this many years ago. Not only so that the inmates may be found guilty, but so that many others would have been caught.

Daniel Clark

[Lisa Frye -]

I truly feel we should wait to hear all the evidence before convicting this man based on what the media has reported.

I agree with you on that. The media always wants you to see it there way, they often leave out the facts...or quite simply don't know the facts.


If the evidence in any case does not support guilt, I feel a defendant should be found not guilty (which does not mean innocent). If it were my son or daughter, I would want to believe in our constititional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

I totally agree with you. If it were my son I definately would want you to prove his guilt without a reasonable doubt. It makes me think of all the people that had already been put to death that may have been innocent and then all the ones who were released that may have been guilty.


I intend to be the type of investigator who reports the facts without bias and without caving to influence from one side or the other; the truth is not negotiable.

You are going to make a great investigator. I too am following that rule. We are to report the facts only.

Lisa

[Gay Nivens]

Lori,

I couldn't agree with you more. I just finished a report that I was doing on inmates that were found innocent through DNA evidence, and though my research for this report, the number of cases in which this has happened, were by far many more than I would ever of thought. It certainly got my head out of the sand! :)

[Gay Nivens]

Lori,

I couldn't agree with you more. I just finished a report that I was doing on inmates that were found innocent through DNA evidence, and though my research for this report, the number of cases in which this has happened, were by far many more than I would ever of thought. It certainly got my head out of the sand! :)

[Jimmy Jordan -]

I intend to be the type of investigator who reports the facts without bias and without caving to influence from one side or the other; the truth is not negotiable.
I agree 100%

In my opinion, anyone who has been convicted of a crime, in which there is evidence that can be DNA tested, should be given the opportunity to challenge the verdict. It may be an additional expense to the state, but the truth should be the ultimate goal.

[Victoria S Kinney]

This articel really stops and makes you think how many people are in prison falsely accused, I agree with Jimmy that if there is evidence that can be DNA tested, they should be given a chance to prove someone innocent or guilty, and I wonder how many people have died and been innocent.

[Joanne DeHerrera]

One of the most aggravating atrocities in this world is that of a man or women convicted of a crime that he/she has never committed and has spent time; whether 1 day or in this case 17 years in prison. The justice system or anyone for that matter can never give this poor man his 17 years of his life back. Poor man!!! :(

This is why I have made up my mind to become a Criminal Defense Investigator.

Joanne DeHerrera

[Denise Garceau]

Joanne DeHerrera it will be a rewarding career.

The scary part is could happen to you or me. Accused and convicted of crime we don't even have knowledge of. It's just like rape, it can happen to anyone.

A wise man who was 'clerk of a large district court' (for 25 years) this is the Judges right hand man, the Clerk......recently told me, that every everyone he ever came in contact with from the states side, from the DA to the cops were lying blank blank blanks..... oh he went on to tell me horror stories.

I've read where we have one of the worse systems in the western world.

[Joanne DeHerrera]

Denise:

Yes very scary indeed!

I know what you mean about the cops. I have been told by many people here in South West, Florida to be careful and watch my steps – report writings etc, and yes I have heard some whoppers of some stories as well.

Yes it can happen to anyone. That is why I try real hard to keep my mouth shut, and I had a tad bit of mishap recently (on my part) online, so I have to also learn to watch my mouth and what I say even online, but especially my steps, (what I do online) and to make extra sure that my computer is hack free and all systems a-go.
Also to not go online anymore from any other computer other than my own; even if it is my husbands.

I am buying some new programs today.

Can you suguest a hack proof program, or give me some advise on this matter?

I have all the basics - Norton's and a few others, but with this new business of mine I want to be just as hack free as the F.B.I. ;)

Joanne DeHerrera

[Rosa --L Patterson]

I always find these stories to be so devastating for the ones convicted of a crime they did not committ. I could not imagine being locked up for X amount of years for something I did not do!
Hi Lisa, I live in Georgia and David Wolfe is a wonderful Attorney, as a matter of fact he was my husband lawyer back some years ago and done a excellent job. I would like to investigate DNA and work with attorneys, how can i get started.

Rosa

[George Shaw]

Denise,
Fantastic post, well worth the reading. BTW, where did you get your data

[Debra Goff]

What concerns me even more than having an innocent person sent to jail, so that one officer can ad another notch to his belt, is the fact that the guilty is still free. I tend to look at what I think is very realistic. Please, don't jump on me just yet. I am not categorizing. But please just look at how many are in jail who don't belong there.To some it is more important to solve the crime than to find the truth. I hope I never eat my words. " I will always seek the truth first. "

Sincerely, Deb

[Douglas Silvia-]

Folks I work in a Georgia Prison and I agree that there are inncoent men behind bars and some that can be cleared by DNA. Georgia has setup a DNA testing procedure that requires all inmates to have a DNA test on file with the GBI. Our system of justice has it's flaws and human make mistakes. By know means do I make light of some human being having to give up years of his life on a false conviction, but the system is getting better. As science progresses the better the chances of convicting the right man and releasing the wrongfully convicted.

[Kenneth Owens -]

I'm very pleased to have read this post. DNA is a great thing for our justice system. It is always around to help with a case no matter how old. Very interesting stuff.

[Tracey West]

Hi, everyone this is good information. I'm a person who feels if you do the crime you do the time. but we also need to use DNA in every case to keep thoes who don't need to be locked up don't get locked up.

Tracey

[Douglas Silvia-]

I believe in DNA testing no matter what O.J thinks, and I believe it is going to one day clear many a wrongfully convicted man, and also convict the right man.

[Douglas Silvia-]

As in earlier discussion I stated that Georgia Department of Corrections does DNA Test on all inmates. In the statement above I said "aslo convict the right man". This story appeared in the Macon Telegraph. The system does work!!!!!

Inmate indicted in 1989 killing

Suspect charged in East Dublin businessman's unsolved stabbing

By Wayne Crenshaw

Telegraph Staff Writer


DUBLIN - A Laurens County grand jury Tuesday indicted a prison inmate in the 1989 slaying of an East Dublin businessman.

Albert Milton Hall, 38, is charged with murder and armed robbery in the stabbing death of Jesse Crooms at a mobile home dealership, said Dublin Circuit District Craig Fraser.

Laurens County Sheriff Kenny Webb announced before retiring in December that investigators had a break in the case, but the indictment marked the first time that a suspect was named.

Fraser declined to comment further on the case.

Crooms, 55, was found stabbed to death Jan. 18, 1989, inside an office of A&P Mobile Homes in East Dublin. He was stabbed twice in the chest and his throat was cut. Crooms worked as a salesman for the dealership. His wallet was missing, and robbery was believed to have been the motive.

A struggle had apparently taken place because investigators found blood at the scene that did not belong to Crooms.

Hall apparently became a suspect through a data bank of DNA samples taken from prison inmates. Webb credited "technology of today" with solving the case, though he did not elaborate further.

According to Georgia Department of Corrections records, Hall is serving 11 years without parole in connection with a 2001 armed robbery and auto theft in Washington County. His scheduled release date is Sept. 2, 2013. His sentence began in October 2002.

Hall also had served time in connection with a possession of cocaine conviction in 1992 in Baldwin County.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Carl Oaklund]

I am responding to the above posts about DNA testing. Although I believe that DNA testing is a good thing, it is not definitive in its results. Tests can and have been manipulated! Different labs have different standards and testing precedures. And to Deborah, most law enforcement personell are trying to do the best and most honest job that they can. They do not receive an incentive for putting someone away. They try to be as thorough as possible, and most do not want an innocent person put in jail. I can not speak in absolutes, but I can say that notching ones belt is not at the forefront of an officers mind when trying to get a conviction for a crime. Officers only arrest and write as truthful a report as possible, the rest is up to the investigators and the courts.

[Carl Oaklund]

Also in response to the above, I have seen many criminals go unpunished because of an I not dotted or a T not crossed. Far more have evaded punishment then there are innocent in jail. I know it is not right to even have one innocent person in jail, but if you could see some of the people's faces that have been severely wronged and have had their lives destroyed by someone that goes free, like I have, then you would see why I have written these two posts

[Ralston Taylor]

Hello Carl, I'm in total agreement with you on this matter. No matter how hard we try, perfection is not available to mankind. I'd bet that more guilty people have gotten away than innocent people were wrongly convicted. Of course any wrong judgements are a tragedy in itself. I always say "Be a perfectionist with work, never with people".I'm also aware that there has been times in America where many did not try to get to the truth. I'd like to think that those times are long since over.

RT :cool: