And Another ...
by TChris
Two days ago, this post remarked: "It seems that a week rarely goes by without a new report of an innocent accused being cleared (after conviction) by DNA testing." This week, only two days have passed.
Luis Diaz was arrested in 1977 when a teenage girl identified him as the man who had raped her a few nights earlier. The police were unconvinced that the girl identified the right man, and they eventually let him go. After a series of rapes in the Miami area, police began putting Diaz' picture into photo arrays. A victim picked out Diaz' picture, so they threw Diaz into lineups, where six more victims identified him.
All those people can't be wrong, right? The fact that Diaz, at 5'3", was smaller than the assailant that many witnesses described to the police didn't trouble the jury for long. And so Diaz, who has always protested his innocence, was sent to prison for life, convicted of seven sexual assaults. But now, DNA testing of evidence from two victims provides persuasive evidence that the crimes weren't committed by Diaz.
Barry Scheck and others explain how so many witnesses got it so wrong:
< More Criticism of Sensenbrenner | John Roberts Update > |