LegalNews.com is reporting that the Michigan Innocence Clinic at Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law have secured an exoneration in the 45th Circuit Court at St. Joseph, Michigan.
Raymond McCann II pleaded guilty to perjury in relation to the murder of a young girl at Tumble Dam. He had already served 11 months by the time he changed his plea, and he was facing up to a life sentence. He was sentenced to 20 months, which he served.
Eight years late, a man arrested in connection to a different kidnapping admitted the Tumble Dam murder. DNA evidence confirmed his confession.
But during the prior Tumble Dam case, investigators were convinced that McCann was the culprit and they used all manner of tactics to get him to confess. He ultimately pleaded guilty to lying about his innocence, which it turns out was the truth.
The St. Joseph Prosecuting Attorney, John McDonough, stipulated to the clinics' motion that the charges should be cleared. The Michigan Law press release has a lot more information for those interested in how Mr. McCann was convinced to plead guilty and how the parties later proved that he was wrongfully convicted.
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