The Innocence Project

“DNA testing is a powerful tool to help uncover the truth, and its value is especially evident in cases like this where it helps a wrongfully-convicted man be set free,” said Dr. Julie Heinig, leader of the DDC Forensics team.

Mr. Britt rejoiced, “I would like to thank Dr. Heinig and her entire staff for the tireless efforts in pursuing justice. My family and I greatly appreciate their services and patience that they have showed in my case, and I am very proud of their work.”

Mr. Britt’s legal team, including attorneys with the Innocence Project Florida, meticulously reviewed and worked through the original testing files and requested testing. DNA testing conducted by DDC identified a DNA profile on the victim’s underwear that excluded Mr. Britt. He was released from incarceration shortly before Christmas.

Melanie Lowe, an attorney with the Kentucky Innocence Project worked on Mr. Porter’s case for five years prior to contacting the DDC Forensics team to request forensic testing on previously-untested evidence: duct tape used to make a homemade gun silencer found at the crime scene.

DNA analysis of this key piece of evidence excluded Kerry Porter as a contributor to the genetic material identified on the duct tape. The Louisville Metro Police Department’s cold-case unit worked closely with the Innocence Project and was also instrumental in the dismissal of charges and Mr. Porter’s exoneration.

Mr. Porter was released from the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex around Christmastime in 2011 after wrongfully serving 14 years. His story is another example of how post-conviction DNA analysis, which often includes testing severely degraded or difficult samples, can free the innocent and change a life forever.

In 1974, a nine-year-old boy who had been sleeping at home was dragged to a baseball field and raped. Despite Mr. Bain’s alibi and conflicting serological evidence, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The prosecution’s case rested largely on the young victim’s identification of Bain in a photo lineup.

In 2001, Mr. Bain took advantage of a new statute making it possible for certain cases to be reopened for DNA testing and filed motions with the court. He was denied five times. With the help of with Innocence Project Florida and Public Defender Bob Young, DNA testing by the DDC Forensics team took place in 2009. Analysis of the DNA on the boy’s underwear excluded Mr. Bain, and he was ultimately exonerated.

Bain isn’t angry about spending 35 years of his life in prison for a horrific crime he didn’t commit. “How can I be?” he told the press. “You can’t go back.” Since his release, Bain has been a leading advocate for the innocence movement and shares his story with students across the country.

On July 6, 2007, Paula O’Conner and her 15-month-old son Alijah were found deceased in their Tampa, Florida home. The mother had been strangled and her baby had been suffocated. Ralph Wright Jr., then an Air Force sergeant stationed nearby, was O’Conner’s boyfriend at the time, came under suspicion, and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

There had been disagreement between Wright and O’Conner over whether or not Alijah was Wright’s biological child, and in addition to this motive, the state’s case also focused on a single black glove that was at the crime scene. That glove was the same type issued for Wright’s military unit, but DNA testing by DDC could not match the glove to Wright nor could it be absolutely determined whether or not that glove actually came from Wright’s Air Force base.

Despite the lack of forensic evidence, Wright was found guilty on both murder counts and sentenced to death in 2014. The convictions were appealed to the Florida State Supreme Court. Based on many factors, including the results of the DNA testing performed by DDC, in May of 2017 the court unanimously vacated Wright’s conviction for the murders, ruling that the evidence against him was “purely circumstantial.”

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