Convict to get new trial in 1995 murder The Associated Press
AUBURN — A 54-year-old upstate New York man serving a murder sentence will get a new trial after DNA testing cast doubt on his 13-yearold conviction. Sammy Swift was sentenced in 1995 to 20 years to life in state prison for the murder of Stephen DeLuca, who died five months after being beaten and left unconscious in his Auburn home during a robbery in April 1994. Swift’s conviction was based, in part, on blood evidence and testimony from a co-defendant who said Swift wiped his bloody arm on a couch cushion. Swift filed a motion earlier this year to vacate the conviction after new, more sophisticated DNA tests showed that the blood found in De-Luca’s home was not Swift’s. On Thursday, Cayuga County Judge Thomas Leone vacated the original conviction after deciding the results of the DNA testing would have changed the original verdict. “There’s a reasonable probability the verdict would be more favorable to the defendant,” Leone said. District Attorney Jon Budelmann said he believed jurors would return the same verdict despite the DNA test. Leone stayed his ruling to give Budelmann a chance to appeal. Swift will remain in jail pending a new trial. Stephen DeLuca Jr. said his family had been following the case, but were not prepared for Thursday’s outcome. “I haven’t had time to absorb the decision yet,” DeLuca told The Auburn Citizen. “I am upset at the judge’s decision but I still have faith in the court system to do the right thing. The murder had an impact on the family and this is just opening up old wounds.” In arguing to have the conviction overturned, defense lawyer Joseph Sapio said the prosecution made repeated references to the blood evidence during the trial and used it to link Swift to the crime scene. A state police lab expert testified at the trial that blood found at the scene was either type A or a mix of types A and O. DeLuca had type A blood, Swift type O. More precise testing was not available at the time. Without blood, there are no fingerprints or other physical evidence linking Swift to the crime scene, Sapio said. The prosecution is left with only the uncorroborated testimony of two co-defendants, who pleaded to reduced charges in return for their testimony.
DNA clears man after 19 years in prison Advanced testing excludes him in 1985 killing of 16-year-old girl
By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press First published in print: Wednesday, November 26, 2008
UTICA — After more than 19 years in prison for a murder prosecutors now agree he didn't commit, Steven Barnes rejoined his family in time for Thanksgiving.
Barnes walked out of Oneida County Court a free man Tuesday after a judge ruled that advanced DNA testing cleared him of raping and killing 16-year-old Kimberly Simon in 1985.
"I'm overwhelmed. This is the happiest day of my life," said Barnes, now 42. "I've been waiting for this day for 20 years. I never gave up hope. I knew this day would eventually come."
Barnes said he was looking forward to a holiday meal with his family.
Simon's nude and bruised body was discovered along the Mohawk River in Whitestown in September 1985. More than two years would pass before Barnes was charged with raping and killing Simon, an acquaintance who had attended th same school.
Tried in 1989, Barnes was convicted of rape, sodomy, depraved indifference murder and two counts of murder related to the underlying sexual crimes.
Witnesses claimed they saw Barnes with Simon near the crime scene.
Wrongly Convicted in Texas Paid $80G for Each Year Spent in Prison Under New State Law
Saturday , September 05, 2009
Thomas McGowan's journey from prison to prosperity is about to culminate in $1.8 million, and he knows just how to spend it: on a house with three bedrooms, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a washer and dryer. "I'll let my girlfriend pick out the rest," said McGowan, who was exonerated last year based on DNA evidence after spending nearly 23 years in prison for rape and robbery.
He and other exonerees in Texas, which leads the nation in freeing the wrongly convicted, soon will become instant millionaires under a new state law that took effect this week.
Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation's most generous package.
"I'm nervous and excited," said McGowan, 50. "It's something I never had, this amount of money. I didn't have any money — period."
His payday for his imprisonment — a time he described as "a nightmare," "hell" and "slavery" — should come by mid-November after the state's 45-day processing period.
Exonerees also receive an array of social services, including job training, tuition credits and access to medical and dental treatment. Though 27 other states have some form of compensation law for the wrongly convicted, none comes close to offering the social services and money Texas provides.
The annuity payments are especially popular among exonerees, who acknowledge their lack of experience in managing personal finances. A social worker who meets with the exonerees is setting them up with financial advisers and has led discussions alerting them to swindlers.
The annuities are "a way to guarantee these guys ... payments for life as long as they follow the law," said Kevin Glasheen, a Lubbock attorney representing a dozen exonerees.
Two who served about 26 years in prison for rape will receive lump sums of about $2 million apiece. Another, Steven Phillips, who spent about 24 years in prison for sexual assault and burglary, will get about $1.9 million.
The biggest compensation package will likely go to James Woodard, who spent more than 27 years in prison for a 1980 murder that DNA testing later showed he did not commit. He eventually could receive nearly $2.2 million but first needs a writ from the state's Court of Criminal Appeals or a pardon from the governor...............>>>>..........................>>>>...............................................http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,546942,00.html
(CNN) -- For 16 years, Loretta Zilinger loathed Dean Cage for what she believed he did to her when she was 15 years old.
Dressed in her immaculate Catholic school uniform, she was on her way to class in October 1994. She heard footsteps coming up behind her. By then, it was too late. A tall man attacked her, hauled her into an empty building and threatened to kill her. She kept her eyes open as he performed sex acts on her. She used her hands to touch his face; her fingers traced his nose, his eyes and his lips. She wanted to remember him. Several days later, Chicago police brought her into the meat market where Dean Cage, a tall black man, worked. A police officer instructed her to identify her attacker by gently tapping the officer's arm. Instead, she wailed frantically. She pointed at Dean Cage. 'I'm innocent' Cage, then 26, was shocked when the police arrested him. "I'm innocent," he insisted. That didn't matter. Two years later in 1996, Zilinger's testimony would convict Cage, sending him to prison for 40 years. Zilinger was absolutely sure. Even his voice sounded like her attacker's, she said. After four appeals and 14 years in prison, Cage won his freedom. A sample of the assailant's saliva, retrieved from the victim's body in 1994, was the proof he needed. A DNA test, which was not available at the time of the trial, performed on the saliva and excluded him. Cage was exonerated in May 2008.................>>>>..........>>>>.............http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/08/illinois.victim.forgiveness/index.html?hpt=C1
Damon A. Thibodeaux, Louisiana Death Row Inmate, Exonerated By DNA Evidence 15 Years After Being Condemned By CAIN BURDEAU 09/28/12 06:28 PM ET EDT
NEW ORLEANS — A 38-year-old man wrongly convicted of raping and killing his 14-year-old step-cousin in 1997 has been released from Louisiana's death row.
Authorities say experts determined Damon A. Thibodeaux's confession was false and DNA tests found him to be innocent.
A corrections spokeswoman says he was released Friday after spending 15 years on death row.
Thibodeaux was sentenced to death in the rape and murder of Crystal Champagne. Prosecutors say the investigation into her slaying continues.
In a statement, Thibodeaux said he was grateful to the district attorney and is "looking forward to life as a free man again."
Thibodeaux confessed to the murder after a nine-hour interrogation. The Innocence Project says that was virtually the sole basis for his conviction.
The Innocence Project says since 2000, six people have been exonerated from Louisiana's death row.
Logged
