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| Prosecutor Recommends Pardon Over DNA |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/03/2003 |
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A Houston, Texas, prosecutor said recently he would recommend a pardon for a man sentenced to 25 years in prison for rape, acknowledging that faulty DNA evidence from the city's troubled crime lab was used in his trial. Josiah Sutton, who was 16 at the time of the 1998 rape, was freed on bond in March when a retest of the DNA evidence taken from the victim excluded him. Hundreds of cases involving the police crime lab's DNA section were ordered reviewed after an audit in December revealed serious deficiencies, including possible exposure of DNA samples to contaminants. In Sutton's case, 'we believe that some evidence was admitted at trial that we believe is faulty evidence and a jury or juror may have based that decision on the flawed evidence, which is fundamentally unfair,' Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said June 27. Rosenthal said it would be impossible to retry the case even though the victim, who identified Sutton as her attacker, stands by her assertion. But Rosenthal said he would not agree to a request by Sutton's lawyers to recommend a pardon for innocence. Such a pardon would allow him to begin the process of clearing his record. Instead, Rosenthal said he would draft a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, requesting a pardon that would restore the rights that were stripped when Sutton was convicted, but does not allow him to clear his name. It could take months for the board to make a recommendation. Sutton's attorney, Bob Wicoff, said he wasn't sure what Rosenthal had agreed to do. 'I don't know what he signed or whether he is just talking,' Wicoff said. 'I could go on about how ridiculous it is to suggest that (Josiah Sutton) is not innocent. It just doesn't make sense.' Since the December audit, the police department has identified 1,300 cases where DNA tests were performed since the lab began DNA work in 1992. The cases were forwarded to the district attorney's office, which has referred 369 cases, including those of 13 death row inmates, for retesting. Sutton's was the first retest returned. He could not be immediately reached for comment last week but in March, told The Associated Press: 'They say you are innocent until proven guilty. I was guilty until proven innocent.' |
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