Innocence Blog

Exoneration becomes campaign issue for prosecutors

Posted: November 1, 2007 12:45 pm

When the Innocence Project appealed Douglas Warney’s Rochester, New York, murder conviction in 2004, prosecutors opposed his right to DNA testing and a judge ruled against Warney. Meanwhile, the prosecution proceeded to conduct the testing in secret. DNA tests proved Warney’s innocence and matched the profile of a man in prison for other crimes. This man admitted that he had committed the murder for which Warney was wrongfully convicted, and Warney was freed in 2006.

Rochester District Attorney Michael Green told reporters recently that he is “extremely proud of the way that we handled that case.” But Carla Biggs, who is challenging Green in the county’s election for district attorney on Nov. 6, said she believed Green’s office had botched the case by opposing testing and then conducting the tests anyway.

"There's never a reason to hide from the truth," Briggs said.

Read the full story here. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 11/01/07)