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Man cleared of sexually assaulting child after 35 years in prison | US News<\/p>\n
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A man who spent 35 years behind bars in the US after being wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl has been freed from prison thanks to a DNA breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Louis Wright, now aged 65, had lived near the child’s home in Albion, Michigan, at the time of the attack in 1988 and an off-duty officer reported seeing him about five hours before the incident.<\/p>\n
That year, Mr Wright was sentenced to 25-50 years for various sexual assault charges, and 6-15 years for breaking and entering.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, however, the Michigan Department of the Attorney General’s Conviction Integrity Unit was told that items from the case were found by the Albion Department of Public Safety.<\/p>\n
The items were sent for testing and came back with “foreign male DNA”.<\/p>\n
As a result of this, Mr Wright was excluded as the perpetrator, resulting in his charges being set aside, officials said.<\/p>\n
On 18 January 1988, a perpetrator broke into the girl’s home while she was asleep and forced her into the living room where he assaulted her.<\/p>\n
Later that day, Mr Wright voluntarily went to the local police department.<\/p>\n
Officers said he confessed, though the interview was not recorded and he did not sign a confession, according to the Cooley Law School Innocence Project which represents Mr Wright.<\/p>\n
But the girl was never asked to take part in any identification process, or identify anyone in court.<\/p>\n
Mr Wright pleaded no contest to the charges – which is treated as a guilty plea for sentencing purposes.<\/p>\n
He then tried to withdraw his plea and claimed he was innocent.<\/p>\n
Over decades in prison, Mr Wright has consistently maintained his innocence and it is unclear why he pleaded no contest in the first place.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor David Gilbert said the case is being reopened.<\/p>\n
“There is no justice without truth. It applies to everyone,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Wright could be eligible for a $1.75m (\u00a31.43m) payout under a state law that grants $50,000 (\u00a340,900) for each year spent in prison for a conviction overturned based on new evidence.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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