Innocent Florida man freed after 35 years in prison

Freed, finally.

BARTOW, Florida – James Bain walked out of prison a free man after spending 35 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, according to the Innocence Project.

He became the 248th person exonerated through DNA evidence in the U.S.

Bain was convicted of kidnapping and raping a nine-year-old boy in Lake Wales, Florida, in 1974, the Innocence Project said.

“The victim described the perpetrator and the victim’s uncle said the description sounded like James Bain. The victim then viewed a photo lineup and identified Bain as the perpetrator. He would later say in a deposition that he had been asked to ‘pick out Jimmie Bain’,” according to the project that has worked to free people who have been wrongfully convicted.

Bain was only 19 at the time and had said he was watching TV with his sister when the crime occurred, but no one believed him.

“ He sought DNA testing several times on appeal, but was denied in 2001, 2003 and 2006. The Innocence Project of Florida took on his case and obtained DNA testing on evidence from the crime scene. The results, received last week, confirmed that Bain was not the perpetrator of the crime,” said the project blog.

“I guess I kind of feel like when they first landed on the moon. We have touchdown,” he told reporters after being freed.

Under Florida  law he is entitled to receive $50,000 compensation for each year he spent in prison. The total Bain will receive in compensation will exceed $1.5 million.

- Visit the Innocence Project website.

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Posted by News Editor on Dec 18 2009. Filed under Humanity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry