Judge overturns Palmetto man's rape conviction
Copyright 2010 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 03/29/2011
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - A judge has overturned the rape conviction and life prison sentence of a man who served 17 years in prison.
Circuit Judge Marc Gilner's ruling on Tuesday granted Derrick Williams a new trial on the strength of new DNA evidence that showed that other people -- and not Williams -- wore a gray T-shirt that the victim kept from her attacker.
As of Tuesday morning, prosecutors had not indicated whether they would retry Williams on charges he abducted a 25-year-old woman from her Palmetto home in 1992, forced her into her car and drove her to an orange grove to rape her.
Williams remains in prison on the life sentences. His attorneys from the Florida Innocence Project will push for his release as soon as possible.
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Information from: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, http://www.herald-trib.com
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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