Recently
DNA has become a huge part of the criminal justice system, and how we catch
criminals. From the tiniest trace of DNA, an individual's whole identity can be
mapped out with amazing precision. Beginning in the late 80's DNA was playing a
minor role in the criminal justice system, and it was only a little later, in
the mid-90's, when DNA was being used to not only catch criminals, but also
freeing the wrongly accused who have been sent to jail.
In 1986,
a young white women was found raped and murdered near some train tracks in a
black neighborhood. Due to the circumstances at which police had found the
young women, the case soon received national attention. After a few days,
police detained, interrogated and arrested a 17 year old male, as well as a
couple of his friends. The physical evidence that the teenagers had indeed
killed the women, or were even near the scene, were thin in court. But relying
on the testimonies of the few witnesses they had, the prosecutor had won all
three cases, and the teenagers were sentenced to life in jail.
However,
years later, the three teenagers were building up their case of innocence in
jail. DNA and seminal fluids taken from the crime scene was argued to have been
at least one of the teenager's, but upon closer examination, it turned out that
that was not true. The defendants had known that, but with such solid evidence
against their sentence, why and how had they ended up in prison- for life?
Eighteen months after writing a letter explaining their circumstances to
Catherine Zellner, the teenagers had a retrial and, 15 years after being
arrested, they walked out as freemen. If it wasn't for Zellner, who worked with
Project Innocence, an organization focused on freeing the wrongly accused,
convincing the judge of a trial using the DNA evidence, these men would have
most likely never gotten out of prison. It also turns out that, after the two
men who actually committed the crime confessed, the police had fabricated the
whole story of the three teenagers. The police working the case had also
fabricated eyewitness statements and the confession of one of the teenagers.
But because of new DNA technologies, the teenagers accused of a crime they
didn't do, walked out free men, 15 years after their initial arrest.
The idea
that a tiny trace of DNA can reveal the whole truth of crime, is mind blowing.
But if it means freeing people who have been wrongly accused of crimes, then
I'm totally for it. Listening to this case has given me a new-found respect for
my dead skin cells!
To listen
to the story of the case, click HERE
