You know, this is fascinating. Either Findlaw or the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the facts wrong, or the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office is speaking out of both sides of its mouth.
The undisputed facts are that Michael Green was accused and convicted of raping a nurse then undergoing treatment for liver cancer. (She later died of the cancer.) He's been in prison for 13 years. The perpetrator of the rape apparently cleaned up with a washcloth and left it behind. (How ... revoltingly fastidious.) The DNA on the washcloth was recently tested, and according to the defense, did not match that of Mr. Green.
The Plain Dealer reports: Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Carmen Marino said the county was reviewing the evidence and was likely to seek its own DNA testing. "It's going to take a couple weeks for us to get our testing done," he said. "We're disposed to do that right now, to make sure all the tests are conducted properly. Until we've arrived at a decision, we will let the jury verdict stand. But both sides are moving as expeditiously as possible to make sure this matter is resolved."
FindLaw reports: Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Carmen Marino said Tuesday he will not challenge the results of the test. "Thirteen years is a long time to spend in prison. If he's innocent, what a tragedy,'' Marino said. Unless new information is obtained that calls into the question the accuracy of the DNA findings, there would be little reason to challenge Green's release, he said.
The Plain Dealer story seems to have appeared later, so I would suspect that is the most current information. Still, you wonder what changed. Why would you say on one day, "Oops. Sorry. Our bad," and the next day you say, "Nope. Don't think so. We want to keep you in prison while we make sure that your lawyers aren't lying to us."
The only thing I can imagine is that they're trying to work out some sort of backroom deal to limit payments. Most of the people who have been freed via DNA evidence have gotten some sort of payment to make up for the lost years -- usually hideously inadequate, but then, when you have nothing at all, inadequate can be better than nothing at all.
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
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