GEORGIA MAN FREED AFTER ALMOST 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR A RAPE HE DID NOT COMMIT
- Feb 24, 2021
- 2 min read
Kerry Robinson, 44, of Moultrie, Georgia, was exonerated and released today from Coffee Correctional Facility, into the arms of family, friends and a team of legal supporters, after being wrongly convicted of rape almost 18 years ago. Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Shealy joined in Robinson’s motion to vacate his sentence. The move followed litigation initiated by Atlanta-based Georgia Innocence Project and co-counsel Rodney Zell based upon new, exonerating DNA results obtained by DNA scientist Dr. Greg Hampikian.
At Robinson’s 2002 rape trial, the jury heard testimony from a state crime lab analyst that suggested that Robinson’s DNA was likely included in a DNA mixture from the sexual assault kit performed on the victim. But new DNA analysis proves just the opposite: the same evidence the GBI said was inclusionary at trial is now proven to be exclusionary.
“We are thrilled to see this unjust conviction finally corrected,” said Georgia Innocence Project Executive Director Clare Gilbert. “The factors that led to Kerry Robinson’s conviction – flawed forensics and false testimony from an incentivized cooperator – are present in so many wrongful conviction cases. Our fight continues on behalf of the many innocent men and women who remain imprisoned in Georgia.”
“Modern DNA technology has further confirmed what we’ve known for a long time: Kerry Robinson is an innocent man,” said Rodney Zell, co-counsel in Robinson’s case. “I am so grateful that new technology is finally able to meet the incredibly high thresholds for righting wrongful convictions in Georgia. It’s been a long fight and we wish Kerry’s mother were here to see this day. We are overjoyed to see Kerry coming home after all these years.”
“Fifteen minutes of flawed DNA forensic testimony took almost 18 years to correct in this case. My hope is that labs and lawyers will take notice, and re-examine these complex DNA mixture cases that can mistakenly imprison the innocent,” said DNA scientist Dr. Greg Hampikian of Boise State University, who obtained the new DNA results. “I am so relieved that Kerry is finally coming home.
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