Tyrone Clark’s 1974 rape conviction vacated after Massachusetts failed to keep evidence, victim cast ‘serious doubts’ over her identity
Clark, who was released from prison Wednesday, is “absolutely delighted” about the decision, his attorney Jeffrey Harris told CNN.
“He has argued for 50 years that he was unfairly tried – the court agreed with him. This is in no small part because a wonderful person came forward and said that she could. got the wrong person in 1973,” Harris said. “We really appreciate the work that the DA office did, the consideration of Judge Roach and the superior court. We are really pleased with the outcome.”
District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the case was brought to the attention of her office after the victim raised doubts about Clark’s identity.
Rollins said: “As we began to dig deeper into the case, we learned that nearly half a century ago, the Commonwealth lost or destroyed evidence that could potentially be handled. “Both the respondent and this administration have been denied the opportunity to perform modern forensic testing due to the failure of previous administrations to maintain that DNA evidence. The Commonwealth never benefited from these failures. our failures and misconduct.”
Clark will have Thanksgiving with his only living relative, his brother Harris said.
“He’s going to be out and about with the family – that’s not for nothing,” his lawyer added.
Clark’s other convictions related to the 1973 incident, including unarmed robbery and kidnapping, were not affected because those convictions were based on other evidence and testimony, according to the release.
“The prosecutors are, first and foremost, the attorney general,” Rollins said in the statement. “We should never prioritize finality over justice. If we discover that the Commonwealth is not meeting the high standards we demand, we must always act in the interests of the Commonwealth. justice. That’s exactly what we’ve done here.”
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