Innocence Blog

A Michigan Teen Fights for Freedom

Posted: May 17, 2010 3:03 pm

A Detroit police officer testified in court last week that a hit man told him authorities had convicted the "wrong guy" of four murders in 2007. Davontae Sanford was 16 years old when he pled guilty to the murders, but his attorneys say he did not commit the crime and signed a confession he could not read.

Police say an accused hit man, Vincent Smothers, has confessed to the murders. Smothers is awaiting trial on eight other murders and has not been charged with the 2007 killings. A Michigan judge is holding hearings on whether Sanford can withdraw his plea.

Read the full story here.

Our previous coverage of Sanford’s case is here.

Learn more about false confessions as a cause of wrongful convictions.