{"id":2025867,"date":"2023-09-08T13:39:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T17:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-man-spent-7-years-in-prison-for-a-rape-he-didnt-commit-he-was-just-exonerated\/"},"modified":"2023-09-08T13:43:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T17:43:12","slug":"a-man-spent-7-years-in-prison-for-a-rape-he-didnt-commit-he-was-just-exonerated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-man-spent-7-years-in-prison-for-a-rape-he-didnt-commit-he-was-just-exonerated\/","title":{"rendered":"Man wrongly imprisoned for 7 years for rape, now exonerated."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-man-spent-7-years-in-prison-for-a-rape-he-didnt-commit-he-was-just-exonerated%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2025867&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A Tale of Injustice: \u200cMan\u200d Exonerated\u2063 After 47 Years<\/h2>\n<p>In a remarkable turn\u200c of events, Leonard Mack, a man \u200dwho spent seven years in \u200cprison for a\u2064 crime \u200bhe always\u200c insisted he didn&#8217;t\u200b commit, has finally been exonerated\u200d through DNA testing.<\/p>\n<p>Back\u2063 in March 1976, Leonard Mack, then 72 years \u2063old, was \u2063wrongfully convicted of rape and two counts of criminal possession of a \u2063weapon. Despite maintaining his innocence \u200dthroughout his incarceration, it wasn&#8217;t until 47\u200b years later \u200dthat\u200d DNA testing proved\u2063 his innocence\u2063 and identified the \u2063true perpetrator.<\/p>\n<p>The Innocence Project, in collaboration with the\u2062 Westchester County District Attorney&#8217;s \u200bConviction Review Unit,\u200c played a\u2064 crucial role in reviewing the evidence from Mack&#8217;s case. By utilizing a DNA profile developed from the \u2064evidence\u200c and uploading \u2062it \u2063into\u2062 state \u200cand local DNA databases, \u200cthey were able to identify the \u200dreal culprit. This\u200c groundbreaking exoneration marks the\u2064 longest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brothers-were-falsely-convicted-of-rape-murder-and-spent-31-years-in-prison-they-each-just-received-31-million-in-damages\/\" title=\"Brothers Were Falsely Convicted Of Rape, Murder And Spent 31 Years In Prison. They Each Just Received  Million In Damages.\">wrongful conviction<\/a> to be \u2062overturned based on DNA evidence.<\/p>\n<p>However, DNA \u2063was not the sole factor\u200d in Mack&#8217;s exoneration. Eyewitness misidentification and misleading \u2064forensic testimony also played \u2063significant roles in his \u200cwrongful conviction.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>A New Lease on Life<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;I want \u200cto first thank\u2063 God for this day,&#8221; \u2063Mack expressed\u200c after his\u2063 exoneration. &#8220;Next, I\u2064 want to\u2064 thank the Innocence Project. Today has been a long \u2062time coming. I\u2064 lost seven-and-a-half\u200c years \u2063of my life in prison for a crime I did not commit, and I have\u2064 lived with \u2063this injustice hanging over my head for almost 50 years. It \u2064changed the course \u200dof my life \u2014 everything\u200d from \u2064where I lived \u200bto\u2064 my relationship with\u200c my family. \u2063I never lost hope that one day&#8230; I would be proven innocent. Now the truth has come to light, and \u2063I can finally breathe. I am\u200c finally \u200cfree.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The incident \u2062that led to Mack&#8217;s \u2062wrongful \u200bconviction occurred on May 22, 1975, when two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/high-school-boys-becoming-more-conservative-while-girls-move-farther-left-survey\/\" title=\"Survey: High School Boys Growing More Conservative, Girls Shifting Left\">12th-grade girls<\/a> were walking \u2062home from school\u2064 in Greenburgh, New\u2064 York.\u200c They were approached by a \u200dblack man in his early 20s, armed with a gun. He threatened their\u2064 lives, blindfolded \u2063and\u2062 gagged\u2062 them, and subjected them to a horrifying ordeal. \u200bOne of the \u200dgirls was raped before \u2064the\u2064 assailant fled the \u200cscene.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the \u2063trauma they endured, \u2062the victims\u2063 provided crucial descriptions of \u2063the perpetrator. The suspect was \u200bdescribed\u200b as\u200b a black man in his early 20s, with\u2062 short\u200c hair,\u200c no beard, \u200band a medium\u200c build.\u200d He was wearing a black hat with a \u2064white brim, a gold \u200bearring in his \u2062left ear, black pants, and a \u2063tan jacket.<\/p>\n<p>A few hours later, Leonard Mack was \u200bpulled over by a police officer.\u200c Coincidentally, he \u200bwas wearing a black fedora and had a \u200cgold earring in his left ear.\u200d Although his clothing didn&#8217;t match\u200c the description, the officer \u2064informed him that\u2064 he resembled the suspect.\u200d Mack vehemently \u200cdenied any involvement \u2063and\u2063 provided an alibi,\u200b stating that he had been with his girlfriend\u200b during the\u200b time of the attack, which\u200b she confirmed. \u2062However, a search of Mack&#8217;s vehicle led to \u200bthe discovery of a \u200d.22 caliber handgun, similar\u200b to \u2063the one used in the rape.<\/p>\n<p>Mack&#8217;s arrest led\u2064 to a flawed identification process. One of\u200b the victims was \u200dbrought to \u2063the \u2062scene, \u200bwhere\u200c Mack \u200cwas \u2064handcuffed, in an\u200d attempt to identify him. Uncertain, she \u2062requested that \u2062the officers position him \u2062to match the suspect&#8217;s stance. Once\u200b they\u2064 did, she identified him as\u2062 the assailant. Later, she was shown a photo lineup that \u200cincluded Mack&#8217;s picture, which stood out due to its unique background. She chose his\u2063 photo.<\/p>\n<p>The other victim, who had limited vision, was \u2064also subjected to \u2063the same suggestive photo lineup. Although she couldn&#8217;t be certain, she selected\u200c Mack&#8217;s photo. Furthermore, she was shown\u200b Mack himself behind \u2063a\u200d one-way mirror, with the\u2064 other victim present, \u200dwho\u200b confirmed his \u200bidentity as\u200c the assailant.<\/p>\n<p>During \u2063the trial, three individuals provided an alibi for \u200bMack, testifying that he \u2063was \u200dwith them during the afternoon of the crime. Additionally, a\u200b defense \u2063expert testified that the sperm found on \u200bthe victim&#8217;s rape \u200bkit excluded Mack as the perpetrator, as serological testing revealed that the assailant had blood type A, \u200bwhich\u200b Mack did not possess. However, a\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-man-spent-7-years-in-prison-for-a-rape-he-didnt-commit-he-was-just-exonerated\/\" title=\"Man wrongly imprisoned for 7 years for rape, now exonerated.\">state expert incorrectly suggested<\/a> that the victim herself could have\u200b been \u2064the source of\u2062 this \u200cbiological evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being ruled \u2063out forensically in \u20621976, before the existence \u2062of DNA evidence, it took nearly five decades for Mack to be exonerated\u200c through DNA testing.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"sk-tooltip-9096\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1694271417371000&#038;usg=AOvVaw0PLikBYdCi-jK-0C-P9dx2\">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>finally been proven innocent through DNA testing. Leonard Mack, now 72, had always maintained his innocence since his conviction in March 1976 for rape and weapon possession. After enduring seven and a half years behind bars, justice has prevailed, exonerating him from the crimes he never committed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2025868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2025867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2025867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2025868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2025867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2025867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2025867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}