On May 27, 2009, after 22 years in prison for a rape that he did not commit, 47 year old Jerry Lee Evans was exonerated by DNA evidence making him the 20th inmate in Dallas County to have his conviction successfully overturned. According to the Dallas News, Evans made a brief address where he commented that he bore “no ill will” towards the court and was greeted by family members and several previously exonerated inmates who meet regularly as a support group. His release comes amid the backdrop of a failed attempt at state legislation reforming Texas’ system for handling DNA evidence and addressing the state’s unusually large number of wrongful convictions.
To read more:
“Says DNA Exoneree Jerry Lee Evans of His Freedom, ‘I Knew It Would Come One Day’”, The Dallas Observer, http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/05/says_jerry_lee_evans_of_his_fr.php
“After 23 Years, DNA Clears Man of Rape,” CBS, http://cbs11tv.com/local/DNA.exoneration.Jerry.2.1021620.html
“Another Wrongly Convicted Inmate Released in Texas,” Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6444094.html
NEIP provides pro bono legal assistance to inmates who have claims of actual innocence. NEIP's mission is to represent persons wrongly convicted in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont and to advocate for the reform of our criminal justice system.
