ANTHONY CARAVELLA; DNA TESTS EXONERATE FLORIDA MAN: TO BE EXONERATED AND FULLY FREED AFTER SPENDING 26 YEARS IN PRISON ;

"REPORTING FROM FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - FINAL DNA TEST RESULTS EXONERATE A FLORIDA MAN WHO HAS SERVED 26 YEARS IN PRISON -- MORE THAN HALF HIS LIFE -- FOR A RAPE AND MURDER, ATTORNEYS SAID WEDNESDAY. BROWARD COUNTY PROSECUTORS WILL ASK A JUDGE THURSDAY TO THROW OUT ANTHONY CARAVELLA'S CONVICTION AND LIFE SENTENCE, FREEING HIM OF RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED SINCE HE WAS TEMPORARILY RELEASED FROM PRISON SEPT. 10. "I NEVER HAD ANY DOUBT THAT ANTHONY WAS INNOCENT," SAID DIANE CUDDIHY, THE PUBLIC DEFENDER WHO WORKED FOR NINE YEARS TO FREE HIM. "THE SHOCKING THING IS THAT AN INNOCENT MAN CAN BE CONVICTED LIKE THIS.""

REPORTER PAULA MCMAHON; LOS ANGELES TIMES

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Talk about irony! While Hank Skinner has been fighting the State of Texas to have crucial DNA tests performed before he is executed, Anthony Caravella is about to be totally freed and exonerated by the State of Florida after serving 26 years behind bars, as a result of DNA tests which prove that he could not have committed a rape and murder. This lesson will hopefully not be lost on Texas Governor Rick Perry. Thank Goodness the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in Skinner's case so that the DNA tests can establish the issue of Skinner's innocence or guilt one way or the other - while he is still alive. Thanks to my good friend (and former Toronto Star associate) Nick van Rijn for bringing this case to my attention,

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"Reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - Final DNA test results exonerate a Florida man who has served 26 years in prison -- more than half his life -- for a rape and murder, attorneys said Wednesday," the Los Angeles story by reporter Paula McMahon, published earlier today under the heading "DNA testing exonerates Florida man convicted of 1983 murder," and the sub-heading, "Anthony Caravella, 41, spent 26 years in prison for a rape and slaying. He was 15 years old when charged."

"Broward County prosecutors will ask a judge Thursday to throw out Anthony Caravella's conviction and life sentence, freeing him of restrictions imposed since he was temporarily released from prison Sept. 10," the story continues.

""I never had any doubt that Anthony was innocent," said Diane Cuddihy, the public defender who worked for nine years to free him.

"The shocking thing is that an innocent man can be convicted like this."

Caravella was 15 and had an IQ of 67, well below normal, when he was charged with the Nov. 5, 1983, murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58, in Miramar, Fla.

"It's over," Caravella said in a phone call minutes after he learned of the DNA results. "I'm OK now."

Broward County prosecutors took the unusual step of temporarily releasing Caravella six months ago when earlier tests seemed to clear him. But he had to wear a GPS ankle monitor and obey a curfew while prosecutors did more forensic testing.

"I feel good, man, because I've never been free all this time," Caravella said. "When they let me walk out that [prison] door, I was free but I wasn't free because it was all hanging over my head. Now I'll be really free."

He turns 42 on Saturday, the first birthday he will celebrate in freedom since he was 15.

Prosecutor Carolyn McCann, who handled the new appeal since 2001, said Wednesday that a second independent lab had ruled out Caravella as the source of genetic evidence found on the victim."

The story can be found at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dna-florida25-2010mar25,0,2109933.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation+%28L.A.+Times+-+National+News%29

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;