13th DNA Exoneration Expected in Dallas

[Feenix566]

13th DNA Exoneration Expected in Dallas

By JEFF CARLTON Associated Press Writer

The jury that convicted him of rape never heard about the other James Giles, the one who lived across the street from the victim.

It sent James Curtis Giles, now 53, to prison for 10 years for the 1982 gang rape of a Dallas woman that he has long maintained he did not commit. On Monday, more than a decade after his release from prison, he was expected to become the 13th Dallas County man on track to be exonerated with the help of DNA evidence.

The Dallas County District Attorney's office and Giles' lawyer both planned to present evidence they say proves his innocence.

"He is overjoyed to finally have this day," said Vanessa Potkin, Giles' lawyer and a staff attorney with the Innocence Project. "It's been a long journey for him. He says he has to laugh to keep from crying."

Assistant Dallas County District Attorney Lisa Smith said her office's investigation into the 25-year-old case found that a co-defendant's statements implicating another man were never presented at trial nor provided to Giles' lawyer.

The case turned on a case of mistaken identity, she said.

In statements to police after his arrest, Stanley Bryant, who pleaded guilty to the rape, implicated two others in the crime: a James Giles and a Michael Brown.

DNA evidence later linked Brown and Bryant to the crime, Smith and Potkin said. Brown was never tried and died in prison after being convicted of another gang rape.

Police eventually arrested Giles, who lived 25 miles away and did not match the description given by the rape victim, Potkin said. Giles was about 10 years older and had gold teeth. He also had an alibi; he and his wife told police he was asleep in bed.

Investigators ignored another man with a similar name: James Earl Giles lived across the street from the victim and had previously been arrested with Brown on other charges, the attorneys said. He died in prison in 2000 while serving time for robbery and assault.

http://www.590klbj.com/news/article.aspx?id=1095273

Remember, kids: as long as you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from the government, right? Defendants have too many rights already, right? Anyone who gets convicted of taking part in a gang rape should get locked up for the rest of their lives, right? Sex offender watch lists are totally the right thing to do, because anyone who's ever been convicted of sexual assault is a huge risk to our children and our communities, right??

[GROFF200]

Obviously the government should be feared by everybody.

[Java_man]

Guilty until proven innocent

[zipper99]

Now THAT is a suitable case for $7.5m compensation.