Tuesday 4 December 2007

Chad Heins exonerated after 13 years behind bars - Florida




Chad Heins exonerated after 13 years behind bars

heins








Innocence Project client Chad Heins (left) walked out of a Florida jail

this afternoon, a free man for the first time since he was 20 years old.

New DNA evidence proves that another man committed the murder

for which Heins was incarcerated for 13 years. Today, Heins' long

wait for justice came to an end and he became the 209th person

nationwide — and the ninth in Florida — to be exonerated by DNA

evidence.

Heins was convicted in 1996 of killing his sister-in-law, Tina. He

always said he had nothing to do with the crime and was

convicted despite DNA tests at his trial showing that hairs

in the victim's bed came from an unknown man.

New DNA tests now show that the same unknown man

also left other biological evidence at the scene.

Read more about Heins' case on our website.


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the lessons of wrongful convictions. Forward this email to

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The Innocence Project at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law
100 Fifth Ave. 3rd Floor - New York, NY 10011

www.innocenceproject.org

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