Another long-incarcerated prisoners has been cleared by DNA. Dwayne Allen Dail was cleared after the tests proved that the DNA found on the 12-year-old victim’s nightgown matched belonged to another man — who is currently serving time on a different offense. Notably, the victim identified Dail as the culprit in the 1987 act. For many years, lawyers have been criticizing the use of line up and witness ids as highly unreliable and this case would appear to reaffirm that judgment. For the story, click here
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I never got my degree but took criminal law classes for a year. I loved my Criminal Law teacher. I have never forgotten the class where we discussed line ups and eye witnesses. His first and last statement in that class was this: “Human perception is sloppy and uneven”. It just made an impression and I’ve obviously never forgotten it!