"In 2008 Farah Jama was found guilty of raping a woman based solely on DNA evidence.
He was jailed for 16 months before the court of appeal ordered his release.
In a review, retired Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent found that swabs from the alleged victim were accidentally contaminated with Mr Jama's DNA.
Mr Jama has settled his claim for $550,000, but his lawyers are still hoping he will get a personal apology."
REPORTER EMMA O'SULLIVAN: ABC NEWS.
PHOTO; FARAH JAMA. (LEFT);
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BACKGROUND: According to the Australian, Farah Jama was found guilty of raping a 40-year-old woman at a nightclub in Melbourne's outer-eastern suburbs after the victim was found unconscious. She had no memory of the crime but Mr Jama's DNA was later found on the victim. The then 20-year-old denied ever being near the nightclub on that night, saying he was reading the Koran to his critically ill father at his bedside in their home in the northern suburbs. The only evidence police had was the DNA sample of Mr Jama, which was coincidentally taken 24 hours before the alleged crime after he was investigated over another unrelated matter but not charged. Prosecutors told the Victoria Court of Appeal earlier this week that it had since been discovered that the same forensic medical officer who took the first DNA sample of Mr Jama had coincidently taken the DNA sample from the 40-year-old rape complainant 24 hours later. They said it had emerged that the officer had not adhered to strict procedure when taking the sample and therefore they could not “exclude the possibility” of contamination. Therefore they argued the guilty verdict was unsafe and satisfactory and should be quashed. His lawyer Kimani Adil Boden hailed a “momentous” day for Mr Jama, whose case he described as “tragic”. “He's been in custody for close to one-and-a-half years on charges he didn't commit. “Justice has finally been done, however, at a price.” Victoria's police chief responded to Mr. Jama's release by banning all forensic officers from submitting DNA evidence or providing statements to the courts until further notice.
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"The Victorian Government has awarded compensation to a man who was wrongfully convicted of rape because of a DNA mix-up," the ABC News story by reporter Emma O'Sullivam, published earlier today under the heading, "Compensation for man jailed in DNA mix-up," begins.
"In 2008 Farah Jama was found guilty of raping a woman based solely on DNA evidence," the story continues.
"He was jailed for 16 months before the court of appeal ordered his release.
In a review, retired Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent found that swabs from the alleged victim were accidentally contaminated with Mr Jama's DNA.
Mr Jama has settled his claim for $550,000, but his lawyers are still hoping he will get a personal apology.
One of Mr Jama's lawyers, Hina Pasha, says the compensation settlement was reached on Friday.
"Provided that Mr Jama's happy and can move on with his life, it's an adequate settlement," he said.
"In terms of whether he can ever be compensated for the amount of time he was incarcerated is a matter of opinion."
Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls has said sorry publicly, but Mr Pasha says his client has not received a personal apology
"It would make a profound difference if Mr Jama was to receive an apology and I would hope that that would be forthcoming very soon," he said.
Last year Mr Jama said his experience of being found guilty of a crime he did not commit was terrifying.
"Really, really, really bad - cannot imagine how bad I felt," he said at the time.
Mr Jama's family is now considering launching further legal action against the State Government and Victoria Police for nervous shock they suffered during the ordeal.
A spokeswoman for Mr Hulls says Mr Jama has not made a request to meet with him, but that Mr Hulls would be happy to do so."
The story can be found at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/29/2940403.htm?section=justin
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
