So Ferguson enlisted the help of a national group that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted and successfully petitioned a Genesee Circuit judge to order DNA tests -- a now-common practice that was not in use by Flint police at the time Ferguson was convicted. <\/p>\n
The result? Ferguson was told there was only a 1 in 2.2 quadrillion chance that the DNA found at the crime scene wasn't his. <\/p>\n
DNA evidence cuts both ways, said Donna McKneelen, co-director of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School Innocence Project, which helped Ferguson with his DNA request.<\/p>\n
\"We caution them before we move forward: Do you really want to take this chance?\" said McKneelen, who said she was not prepared to discuss specifics of Ferguson's case. \"That's something I don't understand (cases in which DNA testing confirms a prosecutor's case) because it causes more problems\" for the accused. Ferguson, now 47, was sentenced to 60 to 90 years in prison in 1986 after a jury convicted him of robbing and raping the 32-year-old postal worker from Clio on her first day on a new route on Flint's north side.<\/p>\n
The late Donald Freeman, a county Circuit Court judge, called Ferguson a \"predator\" during sentencing, even though the Benton Harbor native protested he was innocent. <\/p>\n
Only 21 at the time he was sentenced, Ferguson's criminal record already included two prior adult convictions beginning at age 9, according to Flint Journal files. <\/p>\n
Ferguson, aided by The Innocence Project at Cooley, petitioned for a Genesee Circuit Court order to carry out DNA testing on decades-old vaginal swabs, panties and uniform pants that were collected from the victim after the attack. <\/p>\n
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said some inmates convince themselves they are not guilty in a case, even though all evidence suggests otherwise. <\/p>\n
\"A lot of folks in prison say (they) didn't do it,\" Leyton said. \"In this case, he did do it. I don't believe there are many innocent people locked up.\" <\/p>\n
Founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld, the Innocence Project, was established to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
More here: So Ferguson enlisted the help of a national group that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted and successfully petitioned a Genesee Circuit judge to order DNA tests -- a now-common practice that was not in use by Flint police at the time Ferguson was convicted. Continue reading
\nDNA test request backfires against convicted Flint rapist<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"