Innocence Blog
April 9, 2007
Dallas man cleared after 24-year quest for justice
In a hearing this morning in Dallas, Innocence Project attorneys and attorneys from the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office will present evidence that proves James Curtis Giles didn’t participate in the 1982 gang rape for which he served 10 years in prison. Giles, 53, has been on parole as a registered as a sex offender for 14 years. Giles became the 13th Dallas County man to be proven innocent by DNA testing. No other county in the U.S. has had as many wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing.
A story in today’s Los Angeles Times explores Giles’ long journey to this day – a journey he shared at times with three other wrongly convicted men: James Waller, Kevin Byrd and A.B. Butler.
"We sat together, ate together and tried to clear our name together," James Waller recalled of his prison days with Giles. Waller was convicted of raping a 12-year-old boy. "When I went into the courtroom, I really thought I would be going home. I never would think I would go to jail for something I didn't do. But I did. That was Dallas County: get a conviction no matter how."
Read the full story here. (Los Angeles Times, 4/9/07)
More News Coverage: Quest to clear name at end (Dallas Morning News, 4/9/07)
Name's the same, but DNA could clear rape suspect (CNN, 4/9/07)
Click here for more details on Giles’ case
Michigan exoneree offers reward for identity of real perpetrator
Ken Wyniemko served more than eight years in Michigan prisons for a rape he didn’t commit, and the actual perpetrator of the crime has never been brought to justice. In an effort to rekindle interest in the case, Wyniemko is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the conviction of the rapist. The DNA results that proved Wyniemko’s innocence could potentially locate the actual perpetrator, Wyniemko told The Macomb (Michigan) Daily.
From The Macomb Daily, 4/5/07:
“I want to shake the bushes. I want to know the truth,” Wyniemko said Wednesday from his Rochester Hills home. “I need to know the truth for my own peace of mind and to close a chapter, and for the public because he (culprit) is still out there walking the streets.”
He criticized Clinton Township police for failing to actively pursue the case. “The police have the DNA profile but they’re not doing anything about it,” he said.
Read more about Wyniemko’s case.
Law student played key role in Giles case
Lauren Kaeseberg, a third-year law student at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, has worked closely with Innocence Project Staff Attorney Vanessa Potkin on James Giles’s case for more than a year. She was standing in court this morning with Giles, Potkin and Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck as the Innocence Project joined Dallas prosecutors in presenting evidence that clears James Giles of the 1982 rape for which he was wrongly convicted.
A story in today’s Dallas Observer blog highlights Kaeseberg’s role in the case.
Last summer Kaeseberg came to Dallas with Vanessa Potkin, one of the lawyers involved with the Innocence Project. “It was a great experience for me as a law student,” she says. “We found and interviewed witnesses and prepared affidavits. It was a really interesting hands-on experience that doesn’t come along too often for a law student.”
Read the full story here. (Dallas Observer Unfair Park Blog, 4/9/07)
Kaeseberg is a teaching assistant in the Innocence Project clinic, where 20 Cardozo law students work with staff attorneys on cases in which defendants are seeking DNA testing to prove their innocence. Kaeseberg is planning to work for the Innocence Project of New Orleans when she graduates in May.
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