Dean Cage once said "if you believe in something, fight for it."
Those hard-earned words rang out hours after the
Dean cage 41-year-old was released from jail more than a year ago after serving more than 12 years for the rape he didn't commit.
Dean cage was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the rape of a 15-year-old girl, who, at the time, identified him as her attacker. But Cage always claimed his innocence and requested for DNA tests to prove it. He said his family had even tried to pay for it themselves.
But all those efforts fell on deaf ears until he wrote to the Innocence Project, which took his case in 2004.
The New York-based Innocence Project specializes in utilising DNA to exonerate the falsely convicted.
"The single greatest cause of wrongful convictions is victim misidentification," told attorney Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the organization.
Cage, who worked at a Chicago supermarket, said he was home at the time the teenager said she was attacked while walking to school in November 1994.
The teenager gave a composite drawing description to authorities and after it was circulated, police brought Cage in as a suspect. The girl identified him as her attacker. Cage was also accused in the rape of a 29-year-old woman, but acquitted of those charges. Evidence at the time discounted Cage as the attacker, Neufeld said.
Finally after years of legal work and a long sought after DNA test, Cage's conviction was overturned.
The Innocence Project said nationally Cage is now the 217th person exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence. He is the 29th Illinoisan to be exonerated by DNA evidence. Only Texas, with 31, has more DNA exoneration cases than Illinois.
The conviction was dismissed at the request of the Cook County state's attorney's office.
ge, who said he has no money or material possessions, said he will try to look for work.
Dean cage was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the rape of a 15-year-old girl, who, at the time, identified him as her attacker. But Cage always claimed his innocence and requested for DNA tests to prove it. He said his family had even tried to pay for it themselves.
But all those efforts fell on deaf ears until he wrote to the Innocence Project, which took his case in 2004.
The New York-based Innocence Project specializes in utilising DNA to exonerate the falsely convicted.
"The single greatest cause of wrongful convictions is victim misidentification," told attorney Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the organization.
Cage, who worked at a Chicago supermarket, said he was home at the time the teenager said she was attacked while walking to school in November 1994.
The teenager gave a composite drawing description to authorities and after it was circulated, police brought Cage in as a suspect. The girl identified him as her attacker. Cage was also accused in the rape of a 29-year-old woman, but acquitted of those charges. Evidence at the time discounted Cage as the attacker, Neufeld said.
Finally after years of legal work and a long sought after DNA test, Cage's conviction was overturned.
The Innocence Project said nationally Cage is now the 217th person exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence. He is the 29th Illinoisan to be exonerated by DNA evidence. Only Texas, with 31, has more DNA exoneration cases than Illinois.
The conviction was dismissed at the request of the Cook County state's attorney's office.
ge, who said he has no money or material possessions, said he will try to look for work.
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