DNA clears Dallas man after 26 years in prison, could be released Friday

Johnnie Earl Lindsey has been behind bars since 1981 for a rape he has always said he didn’t commit, but his attorneys say new DNA test results could lead to his release on Friday. Michelle Moore, a Dallas public defender affiliated with the Innocence Project of Texas, is representing Lindsey on appeal and has filed for his release based on DNA tests showing that another man sexually assaulted the victim in this case. Lindsey is the 21st person cleared by DNA testing in Dallas County.

Lindsey was convicted by a jury based mostly on the victim’s identification of him. She initially identified him as the perpetrator a year after the attack, when a six-photo lineup was mailed to her. She had identified the perpetrator as a shirtless African-American man, and Lindsey was one of the two shirtless men in the lineup.

"Juries back in the day believed that when a woman was raped, she must be able to identify her attacker," Ms. Moore said. "We know so much more now. There have been so many studies about how bad eyewitness accounts can be."

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. (Dallas Morning News, 09/15/08)

Stay tuned to the Innocence Blog for an update on Lindsey’s case after his hearing on Friday.