Mark Webb was convicted of rape in Tarrant County, Texas in 1987. According to reports in the Dallas Morning News, the victim was abducted and raped in February 1985. She identied Webb as the perpetrator after being shown police photos, and then identified him again at an in-person lineup and in court.

The prosecution relied on the victim’s identification and serology results that could not exclude him from being the perpetrator. The defense called several witnesses who claimed that Webb was at work at the time of the incident.

Webb was paroled in 1997 but was later returned to prison on a parole violation. DNA testing was performed in late 1997, after prosecutors agreed to let Webb’s attorneys have access to the evidence for testing. They had filed under a new Texas postconviction DNA statute. In 2001, Mark Webb was freed again from prison, this time with scientific proof of his innocence. In 2002, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted his writ of habeas corpus, making his exoneration official.