Published: Oct. 2, 2012 at 1:56 AM<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A 38-year-old Louisiana man on death row became the 300th prisoner to be exonerated by DNA evidence, officials said. <\/p>\n
\"It feels good. I'm still processing it,\" Damon Thibodeaux told the Los Angeles Times. <\/p>\n
Thibodeaux was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death after confessing to the rape and murder of his 14-year-old step-cousin, Crystal Champagne, on July 19, 1996. <\/p>\n
Thibodeaux, who said he was coerced into providing a false confession after 9 hours of interrogation, was ordered freed Friday by a Jefferson Parish judge after 16 years of incarceration. <\/p>\n
\"This is a tragic illustration of why law enforcement must record the entire interrogation of any witness or potential suspect in any investigation involving a serious crime,\" said Steve Kaplan, one of Thibodeaux's attorneys. <\/p>\n
In 2007, Thibodeaux's legal team convinced Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick to take another look at the case. DNA testing indicated Crystal had not been raped and Thibodeaux was not her killer. <\/p>\n
Of the 300 prisoners exonerated, 18 had been on death row, attorneys for the Innocence Project said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
See original here: Published: Oct. 2, 2012 at 1:56 AM LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A 38-year-old Louisiana man on death row became the 300th prisoner to be exonerated by DNA evidence, officials said. Continue reading
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