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After more than three decades in prison, a Florida man was set free Thursday after a DNA test showed he did not kidnap and rape a 9-year-old boy in 1974…
James Bain was 19 when he was convicted on charges of kidnapping, burglary and strong-arm rape. He received a life sentence. He’s going home for the first time in 35 years…
Of the 245 people in the United States whom DNA testing has exonerated, none has spent more time behind bars than Bain, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through such testing.
In 2001, Florida passed a statute allowing cases to be reopened for DNA testing. Bain submitted handwritten motions four times seeking such testing but was denied each time. His fifth attempt was successful after an appeals court ruled he was entitled to a hearing.
Bain initially was expected to be freed with some conditions as the state wanted a further review of DNA test results. But the review was completed ahead of Thursday’s hearing…
“Mr. Bain, I’m now signing the order, sir,” the judge said, referring to an order vacating the judgment and sentence.
“You are a free man. Congratulations,” he said, and the courtroom erupted into applause.
Regardless of excuses, rationales, there’s really only one reason a state denies DNA testing for someone in a case like this. They’re afraid they will be shown up – one more time – as having condemned an innocent man.