To sit in a prison cell and watch the calendar pages turn when you know you are innocent is probably the worst fate one can imagine. Knowing that you do not deserve the sentence you have received and having a life without your loved ones is a terrible and cruel fate. The Virginia criminal defense lawyers at Randall, Page & Bruch, P.C. want to discuss a recent case of a man who escaped the death penalty due to a wrongful conviction.
In April 2016, Keith Allen Harward walked out of prison after spending 33 years behind bars; DNA evidence exonerated him, showing another suspect to be the perpetrator of the rape and murder he was accused of. What was the strongest proof against Harward? How could the justice system get it so wrong?
It was bite mark evidence that landed him behind bars for something he didn’t commit. A terrible and unreliable form of “evidence” puts too many people behind bars when the real criminal is out there. According to Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation for the Innocence Project, “Mr. Harward is at least the 25th person to have been wrongly convicted or indicted based on discredited bite mark evidence.”
So many years wasted of Mr. Harward’s life spent behind prison bars. He missed birthdays and celebrations, baseball games, and road trips because a jury thought that the impressions of his teeth somehow proved he was the culprit. You want a defense attorney that is there to help you navigate these traps, so prosecutors do not put you in prison for nearly a lifetime.
Finding yourself being convicted of something you didn’t do is a nightmare for anyone. If you are convicted for a crime, you didn’t commit, and your life can unravel:
We want to provide you the best outcome for your case. We will do everything we can to make sure a thorough investigation happens, but we need to start today. Do not leave your case in the hands of a state-appointed attorney. With Randall, Page & Bruch, P.C., you will find a team of lawyers who will fight for you and stay on your side. Let us start our investigation now; we do not want you to spend one minute of your life without contact with your loved ones. Unlike a state-appointed attorney, you are not a case file to us—you are a person.
If you have been arrested and want representation, please call us immediately to conduct a full investigation into your case. When you need a Virginia criminal defense lawyer, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or calling 757-742-6115 for a free case consultation.
