DNA Test To Free Wrongly Convicted Man
(ST. LOUIS, MO; March 29, 2007) - DNA tests prove that Antonio Beaver did not commit a violent carjacking near the Gateway Arch in St. Louis for which he was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to 18 years in prison, the Innocence Project said today.
Thursday morning, March 29, the Innocence Project and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office will file a joint motion to vacate and dismiss Beaver's conviction and release him from police custody immediately. Beaver will appear in court with Nina Morrison, his Innocence Project attorney, along with co-counsel Maleaner Harvey and Scott Thompson of the Missouri State Public Defender's Office. The Innocence Project anticipates that Beaver will be released at the conclusion of the hearing. Beaver, Morrison and representatives of the Circuit Attorney's Office will speak to reporters following the hearing.
Beaver's exoneration comes a decade after he was convicted of first-degree robbery - and more than five years after he began seeking DNA testing to prove his innocence.
Now how about the other hundreds of robbery convictions out of the City of St. Louis that are based on eyewitness testimony? I hope this prompts the City cops to take a seroius look at their reliance on lineups, which usually consists of putting some dude in a lineup with nothing more than a hunch.
Posted by jmk on Thu., Mar 29, 2007 at 5:23 PM
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