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Massachusetts man marks eight years of freedom
Posted: May 9, 2008 3:32 pm
Neil Miller spent almost the entire 1990s in Massachusetts prison for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence and led to his exoneration on May 10, 2000. Tomorrow, he marks the eighth anniversary of his release.
Miller is one of more than 160 exonerees whose wrongful convictions were caused, at least in part, by eyewitness misidentification. The victim in Miller’s case identified him in a book of mug shots, and again at trial. He claimed his innocence throughout the ordeal but was convicted and sentenced to 26-45 years.
Read more about Miller’s case here.
Other exoneration anniversaries this week:
Sunday: Glen Woodall, West Virginia (Served 4.5 years, Exonerated 05/04/92)
Wednesday: Jeffrey Pierce, Oklahoma (Served 14.5 years, Exonerated 05/07/01)
Tags: Neil Miller, Jeffrey Pierce, Glen Woodall
Eight Years Ago Today
Posted: May 7, 2009 3:54 pm
Today marks the eighth anniversary of the day Jeffrey Pierce walked out of an Oklahoma prison a free man for the first time in more than 14 years. He was convicted in 1986 of a rape he didn’t commit, based in part on the misleading testimony of notorious forensic analyst Joyce Gilchrist.
In 1985, a woman was raped in her Oklahoma City home, and Pierce became a suspect because he was working in the area with a landscaping crew. He didn’t match the victim’s initial description of the perpetrator, however, and she did not identify him when he was pointing out as a suspect. Months later, he was included in a photo lineup wearing clothes that matched her description of the perpetrator and she identified him as the attacker.
Gilchrist, whose testimony has been involved in at least four wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing, testified at Pierce’s trial that hairs collected from the victim’s apartment shared unique characteristics with Pierce’s hair. He was convicted and sentenced to 65 years in prison. He served nearly 15 years before he was freed by DNA testing that proved his innocence and implicated the real perpetrator.
Today, Pierce lives in Michigan with his family, including his adult twin sons who were infants at the time of his conviction.
Other Anniversary This Week:
Monday: Glen Woodall, West Virginia (Served 4.5 Years, Exonerated 1992)
Tags: Jeffrey Pierce