DNA evidence frees man after 19 years in prison
Pennsylvanian, 46, ‘thankful to be home’ after new tests clear his name
Updated: 6:37 p.m. ET Aug. 1, 2005
PITTSBURGH - A man who spent 19 years behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit was released from prison Monday after new tests of DNA evidence cleared him.
Friends and family broke into applause when a county judge dismissed charges against Thomas A. Doswell. About 30 minutes later, Doswell walked out of the county jail a free man — expressing thanks, not bitterness.
“I’m thankful to be home,” he told The Associated Press from his mother’s house. “I’m thankful justice has been served. The court system is not perfect, but it works.”
Doswell, 46, was convicted in the 1986 rape of a 48-year-old woman at a hospital in Pittsburgh. When he was convicted, he was 25 and the father of two young children.
He was sentenced to 13 to 26 years in prison and was denied parole four times because he refused to accept responsibility for the crime.
Prosecutors’ about-face
Prosecutors originally opposed DNA testing for Doswell, but a judge ordered it. When the tests came back last month showing that semen taken from the victim was not from Doswell, prosecutors filed motions to vacate his sentence and release him.
“These tests confirmed what Mr. Doswell has been saying from the moment he was charged, that he was innocent and that this was a misidentification brought about by police officers who may have engaged in misconduct,” said Colin Starger of the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York.
The victim and another witness had picked out Doswell’s photo from a group of eight shown to them by police.
Marked with an ‘R’
At the time, Pittsburgh police identified mug shots of people charged with rape with the letter “R.” Doswell insisted witnesses identified him as the rapist only because the letter “R” appeared under his mug shot.
His photo was marked because an ex-girlfriend had accused him of rape, but he was acquitted of that charge. Police officials say they no longer mark photos of rape suspects with an “R.”
Authorities plan to compare the DNA sample taken from the victim with national databanks, but so far do not have any suspects.
Although Doswell spent nearly two decades in prison, neither he nor his family said they were angry.
Productive time behind bars
“I couldn’t walk around with anger and bitterness,” said Doswell, speaking on a cell phone for what he said was the first time. “It would have done me more harm than good.”
Doswell spent his years in prison getting an associate’s degree, learning to speak Spanish and mastering seven musical instruments, including the guitar, saxophone, flute, drums and trumpet.
“I am so happy to be actually seeing him at home instead of in jail,” said Crystal Glover, Doswell’s girlfriend. “Now we can get on with our lives.”
© 2005 The Associated Press.
That's just sad......can you imagine having to go to prision for a crime you didn't commit and then being exonerated after 19 years? I'd be pissed. Sadly, this happens a lot with the Death Penalty also...and unfortunately it isn't caught until after the execution.
That happens all the time. I think we would be surprised on the number of innocent people there are in jail.
i hate to say it..... cause I know someone's gonna get all up in arms...
but i think that the fact that the guy was black and had an ex-GF previously accuse him pretty much sealed his conviction. sad sad sad.
Well, I just read a stat somewhere that said over half the men sitting on Death Row are colored.
That would make me come out and want to kill someone
Colored? That is how black people are referred to now?
I thought that ended 2 generations ago.
Who says, look at that colored person?
Colored?
yeah i mean why say colored
Because colored doesn't always refer to Black anymore. It can also refers to hispanics, Indians, etc.
wat i wanna kno is y that dumb pointed him out of the line up, if she didnt see the rapist well enough , then just say that . Me personally i would demand the
woman that pointed him out to receive 19 years in prison to see wat it feels like.
i think we can dispense with the colored and just say "minority"
Geez... not this political correctness again...
Chinese, Japanese, etc. people are considered minorities...they aren't "colored."
What's with all this "political correctness" anyways? That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I just wanted to say that the majority of the people on death row were black, hispanic, Indian, etc. men....call them colored, minorities, whatever you want.
I just want to know why and how the prosecutors could justify opposing the DNA testing. They're supposed to be interested in the truth, not s mily protecting their tainted cases.
Too bad those assholes can't be prosecuted for obstruction of justice.
here here. i imagine this kind of obstruction goes on much more often than we would like.
In these cases I wonder why the guy can't file a civil lawsuit against the prosecutors. It seems to me that what they did to him was a crime.
I totally agree.
Actually, I just heard on the news, now they are going to try the poor man for a deportation trial, since apparantly he's an illegal immigrant
Actually, I just heard on the news, now they are going to try the poor man for a deportation trial, since apparantly he's an illegal immigrant
yeah, that's smart, deport him before he sues their ass...i wonder if he still can?
This guy should get something in return for those 19 years!! For christ sake, give him a million dollars or something. He spent 19 years of his life in jail, that's about 1/4 of your life!!
Actually, I just heard on the news, now they are going to try the poor man for a deportation trial, since apparantly he's an illegal immigrant
oh ........ my ....................god
can they just leave this poor guy ALONE.
The sad thing is, when he went in he had a young son...he missed out on watching his son grow up all because he was wrongly accused of rape...not to mention he probably lost a lot of his reputation and dignity when he was accused of it.
I don't know if there is a dollar amount that would be enough to give back a man 19 years of his life.
there isn't, but that shouldn't stop the government from trying. This guy should get SOMETHING
maybe the citizens should sue for thier tax dollars back.
they paid $$ for 19 years to keep a perfectly harmless man off the streets.
. I'd want my money back.
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