Online Newsletter

James Calvin Tillman

A man imprisoned for more than 18 years for kidnapping and raping a woman was released after new forensic tests showed evidence from the crime did not match his DNA. James Calvin Tillman, 44, told his family he wanted to take a quiet walk and watch the squirrels play for the first time since 1989, when he was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Tillman was 26 when he was charged with abducting a woman as she got into her car near a Hartford restaurant, then beating and raping her at a nearby housing project. The victim picked out Tillman from a series of photos and he was convicted.

Alan Newton

Alan Newton, a former bank teller from the Bronx, has been released from prison after serving 22 years for a rape he did not commit -- a victim first of mistaken identification, then of a housekeeping problem of epic scope. For more than a decade, Mr. Newton, 44, pleaded in state and federal courts for DNA testing that was not available when he was tried, but Police Department officials said they could not find the physical evidence from the case. That evidence, a rape kit taken from a woman who was kidnapped and assaulted, was located only after a special request was made last year by a senior Bronx prosecutor to a police inspector. The rape kit, it turned out, was in its original storage bin, ever since 1984.

Stuart Gair

Stuart Gair, of Glasgow, Scotland, was convicted of stabbing a man to death in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison. Gair had a solid alibi that placed him on the other side of the city at the time of the crime, but the jury believed an eyewitness who said he "studied" the killer's face. What neither the jury nor Gair's attorneys knew was that the eyewitness had already admitted to police that he had made up most of his identification story. Seventeen years later, Gair's conviction has finally been vacated.

Johnny Briscoe

Johnny Briscoe of St. Louis, MO spent 23 years in prison for a rape and burglary he didn't commit, but he never gave up hope of proving his innocence. Neither did investigators and attorneys retained by Centurion Ministries. It took four searches to find the evidence that set him free: a cigarette butt from the scene with the real rapist's DNA on it.

Beth LaBatte

Kewaunee County, WI prosecutors dismissed murder charges against Beth LaBatte, 39, the woman who was once convicted — and imprisoned for 10 years — for the 1991 deaths of sisters Ceil and Ann Cadigan. LaBatte's case was championed by the University of Wisconsin Law School's Innocence Project. The Innocence Project won motions to have evidence from the case re-analyzed using current DNA technology and planned to use those findings at trial. Kewaunee County District Attorney Andrew Naze announced the state's decision to drop the charges as the case was gearing up to go to trial a second time.

Julie Rea Harper - Verdict at Re-Trial -- NOT GUILTY

July 26, 2006 - Verdict Reading

The Judge was notified that the jury had reached a verdict at 4:10 PM.

The proceedings started at 4:24.

Judge Vaughn requested that the court give the jury the respect it deserves and that no outburst of emotion will be tolerated. You would be removed from the courtroom.

The Jury Foreman passed the Verdict to the Judge. The Judge read:

NOT GUILTY!

Julie burst into tears and then fainted to the floor. Ron Safer half caught her and brought her to a sitting position. Mark Harper came to the front and comforted her, and eventually she was able to stand.

David Rands requested the jury be poled and one at a time they answered that their verdict given freely was Not Guilty.

The Judge thanked the jury and they were dismissed. He thanked the Lawyers on both sides, and complemented them on their professionalism.

Prosecutor Edwin Parkinson did not attend the Verdict reading.