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Ohio man is officially exonerated
Posted: August 26, 2008 4:40 pm
After serving 17 years in Ohio prison for a rape he didn’t commit, Robert McClendon was released August 11 due to DNA evidence of his innocence. This morning, he appeared again in a Columbus courtroom, as a judge dismissed charges pending against him. He was also declared a “wrongfully imprisoned person” – making him eligible for compensation under Ohio law, and the judge moved to expunge his record immediately.
"It's sweet. It's very sweet," McClendon said. "It's been a long time coming. I've been fighting for a long time. It gives a lot of people in your corner validation."McClendon is the 220th person exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States, and the seventh in Ohio.
Read the full story here. (NBC 4, Columbus)
Testing in his case was obtained as part of a joint project between the Columbus Dispatch and the Ohio Innocence Project. An Ohio lab provided DNA testing pro bono.
Tags: Robert McClendon
New Hope for DNA Testing in Ohio
Posted: January 20, 2009 3:54 pm
Saying that a 2008 exoneration in his county changed his mind about the power of DNA testing, an Ohio District Attorney has agreed to allow DNA testing in the case of a man in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit.
Charles Dumas has been in prison for a decade for a rape he says he didn’t commit. He is seeking DNA testing that could prove his innocence but had been told that evidence was lost. Now, after prosecutors renewed their search, the evidence has been found and will likely be sent for testing this week.
The roots of Dumas’ success in achieving DNA testing lie in Robert McClendon’s 2008 exoneration. Last year, Franklin County District Attorney Ron O’Brien agreed to testing in the McClendon case after a private lab offered to conduct the testing for free. Although DNA testing at McClendon’s trial had been inconclusive, newer testing proved his innocence and led to his release.
"What we found with the McClendon case is it makes us more willing to take a second look at evidence that may have been previously tested," O'Brien said.McClendon’s case was appealed as part of a joint project between the Ohio Innocence Project and the Columbus Dispatch. Dumas’ case was also reviewed by the project but not appealed because evidence was believed to have been lost.
"This test means my life; it's my last chance to prove to my children I didn't do this," said Dumas, an inmate at the North Central Correctional Institution near Marion.
Read the full story here. (Columbus Dispatch, 01/20/2009)
Tags: Robert McClendon
Exonerations Spark Reforms in Ohio
Posted: March 26, 2009 4:31 pm
After the recent exonerations of Robert McClendon and Joseph Fears in Ohio, state lawmakers – both Democrats and Republicans – are seeking to pass a package of reforms that would help free innocent prisoners and prevent future wrongful convictions. A bill pending before the Ohio legislature would grant wider access to post-conviction DNA testing and would require changes to lineup procedures and the electronic recording of some interrogations.
But some police and prosecutorial organizations are resisting the changes, saying they would be burdensome and costly for police departments to implement and would prevent police from doing their jobs.
State Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said even with compromises this bill would be a step in the right direction and would help prevent wrongful convictions.
"It will be progress that will save the system money," he said, noting that it will mean fewer arguments and appeals over the legitimacy of confessions.
Seitz stressed that he wants to work out issues and move the bill, noting two recent cases of innocence and "countless other cases in which people hoped to get exonerated only to find that the dog ate my homework and the (DNA) evidence was gone.
"This issue is too important. We've got real problems with real-life people. All I would say to anybody who doesn't like this bill is: What if it was you in jail for 18 years for a crime you didn't commit?"
Read the full story here. (Columbus Dispatch, 03/26/09)
Tags: Joseph Fears, Robert McClendon, False Confessions, Eyewitness Identification, Access to DNA Testing
Three Ohio Exonerees Adjust to Life Outside of Prison
Posted: November 22, 2010 4:35 pm
Towler’s story captured the attention of the CEO of Medical Mutual, who contacted the Ohio Innocence Project to see if he needed employment. After going through the standard hiring process, Towler now works for the company, and his colleagues say he has had a positive impact.
Last week, Towler’s attorney reached a tentative agreement with the Ohio attorney general's office for $2.57 million, which if approved by the Court of Claims, would be the largest wrongful conviction settlement in state history.
But exonerees aren’t given a manual about how to save and spend when they receive a settlement, and only 27 states plus D.C. having compensation statutes in the first place.
Read the full article.
Does your state have a compensation statute?
Read McClendon’s case profile.
Read Fears’ case profile.
Read Towler’s case profile.
Tags: Joseph Fears, Robert McClendon, Raymond Towler, Exoneree Compensation