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Thursday, April 17, 2008

DNA test frees Texas man who spent almost 23 years in prison for rape conviction

A man who spent nearly 23 years in prison in Texas for a rape and burglary he did not commit has been set free in Dallas.

A judge on Wednesday overturned the convictions of 49-year-old Thomas Clifford McGowan. He was convicted for a crime that took place in 1985 and got life sentences on both the rape and burglary counts.

Lawyers say he was convicted largely on eyewitness misidentification by the victim. Now a DNA test has shown that McGowan could not have been the man who committed the rape.

McGowan is the 17th man since 2001 whose Dallas County conviction has been overturned on DNA evidence. That is more than any other county in the United States.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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