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44 Ariz. L. Rev. 467 (2002)
Will the Truth Set Them Free - No, but the Lab Might: Statutory Responses to Advancements in DNA Technology

handle is hein.journals/arz44 and id is 481 raw text is: WILL TIE TRUTH SET THEM FREE? No, BUT THE LAB MIGHT: STATUTORY RESPONSES TO ADVANCEMENTS IN DNA TECHNOLOGY Diana L. Kanon I. INTRODUCTION Ronald Cotton was pardoned in 1995 after twice being convicted of the rape of a North Carolina student.' The strongest evidence against him was the eyewitness testimony of the victim.2 In 1999, Anthony Porter was exonerated after spending seventeen years in an Illinois prison for a double shooting homicide that he did not commit.3 He had been scheduled to be executed more than six months earlier.4 January 2000 marked the release of Clyde Charles of Louisiana, a man who spent nineteen years in prison after being convicted of rape. ' The charge had been made up by the alleged victim.6 Christopher Ochoa was released from a Texas prison in 2001, twelve years after being wrongly convicted for the murder of a Pizza Hut employee.7 He had received a life sentence What these men have in common, in addition to having been wrongly convicted, is that each was freed through DNA testing. Each was convicted before the use of DNA evidence in trials was available. Each was found guilty beyond a 1. See John Hinton & Michelle Johnson, Without Doubt: Evidence Piles Up, But the Jury is Still Out on the Value of DNA Testing, WINSTON-SALEM J. (N.C.), Feb. 18, 2001, at 1, available at 2001 WL 3041086. 2. See id. 3. See Daniel J. Lehmann, Porter Cleared of '82 Murders, CHI. SUN-TaMfs, Mar. 12, 1999, at 8, available at 2000 WL 6529475. 4. See id. 5. See Mark Riley, DNA Testing Gives Freedom to 64th Inmate, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Apr. 1, 2000, at 25, available at 2000 WL 18229220. 6. See id. 7. See Kathryn Wolfe, DNA Proves the Wrong Man Convicted, Hous. CHRoN., Jan. 17, 2001, at 13, available at 2001 WL 2993107. 8. See id.

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