Just one more reason that I’ll never convict someone based just on the word of another. But in this case it looks like the state DNA tests were changed to fit the crime and it sounds like someone should be going to jail. This is what I really hate, you have prosecutors like Nifong or these idiots in this lab putting people away for life and what do they get? A big fat nothing in the way of punishment.
There are, of course, two types of innocence.
One is the guy who is innocent of a particular crime, but is a career criminal and has committed many others he got away with. While it doesn’t make it right, there is an undeniable element of poetic justice in the situation when he is sent away for something he didn’t do.
It is my understanding that many police, prosecutors and lab dudes see nothing wrong in “adjusting” evidence as needed to convict one of these types and clear a case. Particularly as they often “know” he did it, but just don’t have the evidence to convict. This probably happens less often now than in the past, as forensic evidence is harder to “fix” than eyewitness testimony.
The second type of innocence is that of the guy who has never committed any serious crime but is nevertheless convicted falsely.
I have no idea which group this guy falls into.
I would like to see those who have conspired to fix evidence be subjected to the same penalties they conspired to inflict on another. That was how the Law of Moses handled frameups.
The end result of these shenanigans is to taint all forensic evidence and get a lot of guilty guys released.