The DNA evidence that won Andre Davis his release from prison has not
convinced prosecutors in Champaign County that he is innocent of
3-year-old Brianna Stickel's murder.
State's Attorney Julia Reitz
said her office will contest Davis' petition for a certificate of
innocence, and the move could prevent Davis from collecting money from a
state fund set up for wrongfully convicted inmates.
"Based on our
review of the two trials and the evidence, we believe he is guilty of
murder," Reitz said. "We can't prove it, 30 years later, at this time."
Much of the evidence in the case files used in Davis' two trials in
the early 1980s has been lost or destroyed, but his lawyers say nothing
that remains can link Davis to the crime.
Davis, who spent nearly
32 years behind bars, served more time than any other Illinois inmate
who has had their conviction overturned since at least 1989, according
to the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University's law
school.
Brianna's body was found in a house in her neighborhood
where two acquaintances of Davis lived. Blood and semen samples found on
bedclothes at the scene had been used with 1980s technology to finger
Davis as the killer, but DNA tests decades later matched them to a
witness who testified in court against Davis, court records say. Samples
recovered from Brianna's body are missing.
The Tribune is not naming the witness because he has not been charged with a crime.
Police
in Rantoul have reopened the murder case, but Chief Paul Farber would
not say whether the witness who matches the DNA is a suspect.
"After 32 years, we're getting very few tips," Farber said.
If
a judge rules that a preponderance of the evidence proves Davis was not
guilty, Davis could receive as much as $190,000 based on the formula
that the state uses to compensate wrongfully convicted inmates who serve
significant time in prison, said his lawyer, Jane Raley.
Rebeca Spragg, Brianna's mother, remains unconvinced that Davis is innocent.
"I
felt like the evidence against him was good enough. ... I still feel
that way," she said. "He may not have been totally alone in it, but he
was involved in it."
Spragg had divorced Brianna's father, Michael Stickel, and remarried not long before Brianna was killed.
After Brianna's death, Spragg said she and her family moved repeatedly before settling a few years ago in North Carolina.
"Our life has been very guarded all these years. I haven't felt safe anywhere," she said.
The
prospect that no one will be charged in Brianna's murder is not unusual
among the many wrongful conviction cases, Raley said.
"These cases are so old, and often there isn't a lot of evidence left," she said. "But we know Andre didn't do it."
Source http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-freed-inmate-sidebar-20121002,0,5815503.story
