I apologize if this is a bit long, but you'll all probably hear about this on the television news show 48 Hours in November. We're very proud of our colleagues who will be filing an "Extraordinary Motion for New Trial", which could very well lead to Mr. Harrison's release.

BACKGROUND ON THE CASE: CLARENCE HARRISON

Early on the morning of October 25, 1986, a woman was attacked as she walked in the rain to a bus stop in Decatur, Georgia. The assailant approached the woman from behind, hit her on the head, and then dragged the woman to a location she could not identify other than being near a church and a park. The assailant raped and sodomized the woman and dragged her to two other unknown locations, repeating the crime in each location. At some point during the assault, the assailant stole the woman’s wristwatch.

After the assailant left, the woman sought help at the home of a friend, and police were called. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment where a rape kit was collected.

During investigation, police were led to Clarence Harrison because he lived not far from the site of the abduction, and because neighbors told police they had heard someone at his house had a watch to sell. However, the victim’s watch was not found at Harrison’s home.

Harrison still became a suspect, and investigators included his photo in a group of pictures they showed to the victim. She identified Harrison as her attacker. Another woman who lived in the neighborhood told officers that two men had come to her door that night, and one was wet. From a similar group of photos, she picked out Harrison.


Police arrested Clarence Harrison in early November, 1986. He maintained his innocence from the outset. A DeKalb County jury convicted him on March 18, 1987 of rape and robbery, and Harrison was sentenced to life in prison.

In September 1988, at the request of the DeKalb County Public Defender’s office, slides from the rape kit were sent to a commercial lab for DNA analysis. That lab was unable to perform DNA analysis on the slides, but Clarence Harrison continued to pursue DNA testing. He contacted several organizations without success before writing to The Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) in February 2003.

Several GIP interns worked on the case. The bulk of the work on the case was done by two interns. Laura Verduci is a third year law student at Georgia State University; Jason Costa is a second year law student at Emory University. The first interns to realize that this was a good innocence claim were: Emily Gilbert, from GSU Law School - now a public defender in DeKalb County, and Tracy Shessler, a recent Emory graduate with a major in Sociology and minor in Violence Studies.

Though slides from the case had been sent at least once for testing, Mr. Harrison was told in the early 1990’s that all the evidence had been destroyed. GIP was able to track down one slide from the rape kit.

The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office offered complete cooperation and assistance to GIP from the time it initiated contact about the Harrison case. New DNA samples were taken from Mr. Harrison, and they were sent to Dr. Edward Blake at Forensic Science Associates in California, along with the slide from the rape kit. Dr. Blake returned his results in late August 2003 with the conclusion that the DNA evidence obtained from Harrison in 2004 could not possibly belong to the same man whose DNA was in the rape kit.

BACKGROUND ON THE GEORGIA INNOCENCE PROJECT

The Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) began operation in August 2002 and began to investigate cases in January 2003. GIP’s mission is to free the wrongly prosecuted
through the use of DNA testing, to advance practices that minimize the chances that others suffer the same fate, and to educate the public that wrongful convictions are not rare or isolated events.

GIP adheres to an extensive screening process for its cases. To date, GIP has received more than 1,100 requests for assistance but has accepted only seven clients. The case work is done primarily by volunteer law students and lawyers throughout Georgia with supervision from Executive Director Aimee Maxwell, a lawyer with 16 years experience, most recently with the Georgia Indigent Defense Council.

The Georgia Innocence Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that receives funding from the Georgia Bar Foundation, the Lawyers Foundation, AT&T Foundation, Hewitt Foundation, ChoicePoint Cares, the Charles Edmundson Foundation, and other private donors.

For more information on The Georgia Innocence Project, visit

www.ga-innocenceproject.org

This is wonderful news! Unfortunately, there are a lot more innocent people in our prisons than we realize. That is not to say that I think all prisoners are innocent, but some are. It's nice to hear that one is finally going to realize the dream of freedom soon. Thanks for sharing LD....Hey, you might just work out here at WAP afterall. You DID pick up my longwindedness! LOL!!

Thanks very much for posting such good news...............

A special hearing will be held on the Defense's "Extraordinary Motion for New Trial" in Dekalb County, Georgia Superior Court TOMORROW, August 31, at 8:30 a.m.

The D.A.'s office has already agreed to concur with the motion, and dismiss all charges against Mr. Harrison. The liklihood is that by lunch-time tomorrow, Clarence Harrison will walk out of the Courthouse a free man.

Watch the news !!

thank you very much lawdog..it's a shame more courts don't realize when they send innocent people to jail...in my man's case. he was convicted of murder of a drug dealer.. him and some of his friends were all drugged and drunk and came out of a bar and one of them killed the drug dealer..no gun was found in this case..they convicted my man because he had blood on his shoulder..the blood was his own...when he went to court he had a very lousy public defender that didn't object to anything..they had my man completely drugged..they hypnotised him three different times and each time he could not recollect anything about that night..the da told him if he took a life sentence they would let him in 12 years by the time he was 41...he will now be 44 in oct and is still currently incarcerated...he has spent bundles on lawyers and appeals to no avail..he now has one in that we just keep praying they will see it the way it should be seen..
I am very happy for this man that they realized is innoncent....thank you

Clarence Harrison was freed this morning (Tuesday, August 31, 2004).

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=51268

Thanks LD for this great info. Yes as we all know, too many innocent people are sent to prison, but thankfully some get to go free. Congrats to Mr Harrison and applauds to those young lawyers who are caring enough to help.

Does anyone know if there is a Texas Innocence Project?

__________________
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly.

Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy.

Yes, just like XRay posted, I also am wondering if anyone may know if there is a Pennsylvania Innocence Project?

Thanks~

I'd suggest contacting the State Bar Association in each State of interest. They should be able to give you some information about that (one would assume, anyway).

Try doing a search for "innocence project" AND "Texas" (or other State). Might work.

The other alternative is to visit the website for the Georgia Innocence Project (above) and use their contact info. They may actually have nationwide contacts with other groups that provide the same kind of services as they do.