Texas man likely to be freed after 22 years

[moobu2]

Source: AP

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man who spent 22 years in prison for a rape that forensic tests now suggest he did not commit is expected to be freed.

Gary Alvin Richard is likely to be released Thursday after prosecutors and his defense attorney ask a judge to set him free on bail.

Lawyers will then weigh what to do with Richard's case.

Defense attorney Bob Wicoff says the new tests based on blood-typing prove Richard's innocence. Prosecutors agree the results contradict crime lab evidence but say they do not know if Richard is innocent.

If cleared, Richard — who is serving a life sentence for a 1987 rape — would be the fourth Harris County man to have his conviction overturned because of faulty forensics from the Houston crime lab.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gpvNyFxN65HC1bWLQwY44zXMmJQgD97SF29G0

[Baby Snooks]

1. Welcome to Texas!!!!

Texas is the only place where you can be charged and convicted of just having gotten on the wrong side of a district attorney, or one of the district attorney's friends, rather than the wrong side of the law.

The Justice Department should have "cleaned house" a long time ago.

[mbperrin]

11. Hardly only in Texas. Better look at a few facts -

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/usIndex.html

You'll note that this one center has operated in 43 states.

[Baby Snooks]

12. Texas is a little different..

Texas is a state where prosecutors never make mistakes - according to them of course. Our previous district attorney said in one case he didn't care about the DNA. He "knew" the man was guilty.

The problem in Texas isn't so much wrongful conviction but wrongful attitude. Mainly that prosecutors are above the law and can frame, convict and kill at will. And some do.

[saigon68]

13. No wonder the Chimpanzee likes it there

He is above the law and can find, lie, frame and kill at will. And some do.

MEET THE CHIMPANZEE

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. Now, now there Sai, settle down - Dim-son worked very hard to earn the title "Texecutioner"

.
.
.



The First Federal Executions since the early 1960's !

2 out of 3 Executions as President are Gulf War Veterans !

http://www.ccadp.org/serialpresident.htm

I was surprised, but then NOT

to see how many links have disappeared to the Texecutioner in the last 8 years

4 years ago there were 10's of thousands of links

now, only 2,700 for Texecutioner

But I suspect there are many more saved on 'puters, blogs etc.

WELL DONE DIM-SON!

[emilyg]

2. Stories like this make me cry.

[babylonsister]

9. Me, too. What a waste. And how old is the use of blood-typing?

Jeeze.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Innocents Project - 30% wrongfully convicted of rape

What a huge number to be cleared by DNA evidence

[pleah]

4. Sounds like they should be reviewing all cases in Harris County.

:grr:

[sonias]

10. Totally agree

Harris has been one of the worst areas in Texas. Plus the prosecutors there invariably ask for the death penalty, so most of the death penalty cases come from Harris.

Harris had major problems with the crime lab they operated. And more importantly, unlike Dallas they didn't keep DNA evidence for long.

Houston Chronicle 9/2/04
Crime lab probe looks beyond Harris County
Evidence in 14 outside cases was tested at Houston facility
By ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Sept. 2, 2004

AUSTIN -- Houston police have identified 14 cases outside Harris County in which the department's troubled crime lab tested DNA evidence, and there probably are more, a police commander said Tuesday.

(snip)
Acting Houston Police Chief T.N. Oettmeier shut down the facility in January after a Texas Department of Public Safety audit exposed widespread problems with the lab.

According to the audit, lab workers were insufficiently trained, did not follow standard scientific protocols and gave trial testimony based on questionable lab results.

And another more recent one from this year:

KHOU 3/12/09
Harris County DA criticizes conviction, plans DNA change

HOUSTON -- The Harris County district attorney criticized police, prosecutors and defense attorneys Thursday in the wrongful conviction of a Houston man whose DNA wasn’t screened before he spent more than five years in prison.

Pat Lykos said the conviction of Ricardo Rachell came as the result of “a series of unfortunate events, blunders and omissions.” She blamed police for failing to investigate fully, prosecutors for not demanding DNA testing and defense attorneys who never requested forensic evidence analysis.

Lykos also said the district attorney’s office had no policy of testing forensic evidence before trial, something she said will change immediately. She said she’ll require DNA tests in all cases where it’s available. She was not the DA when Rachell was prosecuted.

God help anyone convicted in Harris, because they're effectively guilty once charged.

The only good news to report about the Harris situation is one of the most corrupt and racist DAs there, Chuck Rosenthal, was forces to resign over pornographic and racist e-mails that were discovered last year.

Sonia

[JonLP24]

5. The Dallas DA is my hero

I forgot his name but I've heard of many other cases like this.

[Baby Snooks]

8. He is the exception....

I forget his name as well but he certainly "cleaned house" including exposing the blatant racism of the office itself.

They actually had a manual on how to exclude minorities from juries which should have been the point the Justice Department moved in.

[joeybee12]

6. 22 years...amazing and heart-breaking...

...I really hope this guy can get his life together after such an horrific miscarriage.

[defendandprotect]

7. Wow, do we have a lot of work to do re prisons and incarceration rates --- !!!

Here and there I'm hearing more about prisoners being tortured -- !!!

If you look at the living conditions, they look like hell to me!!

Most of the reforms of the 1930's were reversed, I think ... ???

[cosmicone]

15. No wonder they never made a CSI Houston series

maybe a perfect name for a comical parody of the original hahaha