Innocent Inmate Will Be Freed in Harris County, Texas
A Texas boy, who was 8 years old at the time, of the crime testified along with another witness that Ricardo Rachell was the man who had sexually assaulted him.
But DNA evidence, when it was finally tested, proved otherwise, the Houston Chronicle reports. Rachell, 51, who has served five years of the 40-year sentence he was given after he was convicted in 2003, is expected to be freed tomorrow.
Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson said at a press conference today that his office will support any request by Rachell for a full pardon, and has identified a new suspect. Magidson also said that DNA evidence collected by Houston police in the case should have been tested before Rachell’s trial, but mistakenly was not.
The county is historically known for its high number of executions, as discussed in an earlier Chronicle article, but Houston is also part of a national trend toward reduced executions and fewer death sentences.
Related ABAJournal.com coverage:
Bad Police Lab Work Is Good News for 19 TX Inmates
Faulty Eyewitness IDs, Flawed Procedures Helped Convict the Innocent
Houston Has a Problem With Death-Penalty Disparities, Study Says
