After 23 years behind bars, a man in Hawaii has been declared innocent and released.
Judge Peter Kubota lifted the life sentence against the now 51-year-old for the 1991 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 23-year-old American tourist on new evidence, as Hawaii’s largest daily newspaper “Star Advertiser” reported Tuesday (local time) .
Previously, according to the report, Kubota spent more than seven hours listening to testimony from a DNA lab analyst and some forensic tape and bite mark experts at Hilo County Court on the Big Island. They explained that no piece of evidence linked the man or his two alleged and also convicted accomplices to the crime.
The DNA traces and semen found on a T-shirt that included the victim’s blood instead belonged to an “unidentified man,” as the “Star Advertiser” went on to write. DNA analysis technology has made significant progress since then, the judge said.
“From the start, the DNA in this case provided strong evidence that these three men were innocent,” Susan Friedman, an attorney with the nonprofit Innocence Project, said in a statement.
The judge encouraged the freedman to “pinch and love” his family and not focus on anger and resentment over the trial or the people who put him in prison for a third of his life. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
