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It's Time to Free Elkins

By TChris, Section Innocence Cases
Posted on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 03:46:02 PM EST
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by TChris

Clarence Elkins has long wondered whether the person who murdered his mother-in-law and raped his niece was Earl Mann. Mann, a convicted rapist, had been a neighbor of Elkins' mother-in-law, and five days before the murder he fled from the halfway house where he'd been staying. But the niece identified Elkins as the rapist, and he's been in prison for seven years.

DNA tests later excluded Elkins from the crime scene, but the judge in his case said that wasn't enough to overcome the eyewitness identification. Fate was on Elkins' side, however, when Mann ended up doing time in the same prison. Elkins was able to give his lawyer cigarette butts that had been in Mann's mouth, and DNA tests made Mann a stronger suspect than Elkins.

To top it off, the niece has recanted. There is no longer any credible evidence that Elkins committed the crimes.

In the words of the Akron Beacon Journal: "Summit County prosecutors should respond by doing the right thing: moving quickly to free Elkins from prison."

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    It's Time to Free Elkins | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: It's Time to Free Elkins (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:15 PM EST
    why did the niece ID him to begin with? i don't really feel like signing up for every newspaper in the country, could you possibly copy/paste the article here? perhaps that will answer some questions which aren't, in the thread. thanks.

    Re: It's Time to Free Elkins (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:16 PM EST
    "It's time to free Elkins" ??? Hold on. How about, "It's time to reinvestigate the case." Were the cigerette butts tested in a certified lab? What is the reason the niece has changed her story? Before we let a convicted murder and rapist out of prison, lets make sure he is innocent.

    Re: It's Time to Free Elkins (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:16 PM EST
    How about "Before we send a convicted murderer and rapist to prison, let's make sure he's guilty"?

    Re: It's Time to Free Elkins (none / 0) (#4)
    by Beck on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:16 PM EST
    The niece was six years old at the time of the attack, and it happened at night. The cigarette was tested at a certified lab. Earlier testing showed that the DNA evidence found on the attack victims does not belong to Elkins. However, the judge denied a new trial, stating that the niece's eyewitness testimony is more relevant than the DNA evidence.

    Re: It's Time to Free Elkins (none / 0) (#5)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:16 PM EST
    the eyewitness testimony of a 6 year-old, at night? methinks what we have here is the familiarity syndrome: as young as she is, she identified someone she knew, who may well have features similar to the person that attacked her. it was dark, she couldn't see real well, but she wanted to please the adults. it is a not infrequent situation. aside from the fact that eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, there is the not-so-small matter of the incompatible DNA. at minimum, someone else had to be there. unless those two contradictory items can be reconciled, tie goes to the defendent. the judge is an idiot. probably elected.

    Re: It's Time to Free Elkins (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:16 PM EST
    There are cases all over the country with DNA incompatibilities not matching the convicted defendents. Most states rule that the DNA found must be shown to match the real killer; at least post conviction. Many people in the industry know that all inmates are innocent. Many inmates know that some of them are. Tomorrow you or I could be one of them.

    It's Time to Free Elkins | 6 comments (6 topical)