Jul 3, 2008 10:02 am US/Central
Dallas Man Freed By DNA After 15 Years In Prison
DALLAS (CBS) ―
A man sent to prison more than 15 years ago has been freed after DNA testing concluded he was innocent.
Patrick Waller walked out of court a free man Thursday. He has been behind bars since late 1992 on convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping stemming from the abduction of a Dallas couple.
But DNA testing conducted late last year proved Waller was innocent.
Prosecutors say the DNA profile matched another man, who is free on parole.
Waller is the 19th man in Dallas County since 2001 shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. The Innocence Project in New York says that's a national high.
The crime lab which tests DNA for the county saves DNA samples that can be used in old Dallas County cases. That explains, in part, why the city clears so many prisoners. The labs that serve most jurisdictions do not save evidence, reports CBS station KTVT-TV in Dallas.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
