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DNA evidence clears Pennsylvania man's murder conviction after 34 years DNA evidence clears Pennsylvania man's murder conviction after 34 years
(about 1 hour later)
A man who spent 34 years in a Pennsylvania prison for the shooting death of a 15-year-old-girl will be set free after a judge vacated his murder conviction, citing new DNA evidence. A man convicted in 1982 in the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl has been freed from a Pennsylvania prison thanks to new DNA testing after spending more than three decades behind bars filing repeated appeals proclaiming his innocence.
The Innocence Project said a senior visiting judge issued the order Thursday in Indiana County in favor of 63-year-old Lewis Fogle, who is to be released on bond later in the day. Lewis Fogle, 63, had his conviction thrown out by Judge David Grine in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and was granted $25,000 bail pending a decision by Indiana County district attorney Patrick Dougherty on whether to retry him on second-degree murder charges. Dougherty’s decision is due by 14 September.
The judge’s decision stems from a joint motion by the Innocence Project and district attorney Patrick Dougherty. The Innocence project pressed police to test old physical evidence; sperm found on the victim was proven to belong to someone other than Fogle. Fogle, who was serving a sentence of life in prison, told reporters he “wants a steak” for dinner.
Fogle, who remains charged, will be free until 14 September, when Dougherty completes a review other evidence before deciding whether to retry him.
“The fact that his DNA did not show up in the test simply says that we may not have the sufficient evidence to prosecute on a felony murder,” Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty told CBS Pittsburgh. “The evidence existed, the technology didn’t really exist back in the early 80’s to the degree and to the specificity and sophistication that it does now.”
Fogle has denied killing Deanna Long in 1976. He was the only one of four people arrested in March 1981 to be tried.
His wife, Deb, spoke to CBS Pittsburgh from the courthouse steps on Thursday. “He’s my husband and I love him,” she said. “It’s been a long, long process.”His wife, Deb, spoke to CBS Pittsburgh from the courthouse steps on Thursday. “He’s my husband and I love him,” she said. “It’s been a long, long process.”
1st pic of Lewis Fogle after being released after conviction overturned, he says tonight he "wants a steak" pic.twitter.com/rQbz8uBTlO
DNA testing of sperm evidence in the case “excluded Fogle and pointed to an unidentified male” in the 1976 rape and murder of Deann “Kathy” Long, according to the Innocence Project, a group that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people.
Dougherty agreed to the new DNA testing and joined with lawyers from the Innocence Project in asking that the conviction be thrown out.
But Dougherty told Reuters he does not believe Fogle is actually innocent of involvement in the conspiracy to rape and murder Long, and will look for other evidence to retry him.
“This has been an extremely long journey for Mr Fogle, who has always maintained his innocence of the 1976 crime,” said David Loftis, managing attorney for the Innocence Project, which is based in New York and Philadelphia.
Fogle and three other men were arrested in 1981 after a mental patient, Earl Eugene Elderkin, identified them under hypnosis as possible suspects in the crime.
Fogle was tried separately and convicted of second-degree murder based on the testimony of three jailhouse informants, lawyers said.
Charges against the other three co-defendants were dropped for lack of evidence or, in one instance, dismissed for a violation of the state’s “speedy trial” rule.
Fogle first requested DNA testing of evidence in 2003, court records show, but initial tests did not establish his innocence.
Earlier this year, after a second round of DNA testing authorized by the court, technicians were able to identify sperm from pubic hair combings of the victim taken 39 years ago.
Dougherty said two of the other three men originally charged with the crime are still alive, and that he will seek DNA samples from them.