DERRICK WILLIAMS; FLORIDA; PROSECUTORS SAY NEW EXCULPATORY DNA TEST RESULTS WOULD NOT HAVE AFFECTED THE JURY'S VERDICT; 17 YEARS BEHIND BARS;

"The Florida Innocence Project this year tested a gray T-shirt worn by the attacker, and found that sweat and skin cells on the inside of the shirt collar did not come from Derrick Williams, 47, who is in prison on the rape charge.

Williams' attorneys filed motions to vacate his kidnapping and rape convictions and life prison sentence, saying the attacker would have left DNA on the shirt because it was a hot day.

But prosecutors disagreed in court records filed Friday, saying that the evidence at trial was so overwhelming that tests of the DNA would not have affected the jury's verdict."

REPORTER TODD RUGER: THE HERALD TRIBUNE;

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BACKGROUND: An organization that used DNA evidence to free a Tampa man after 35 years in prison is working to exonerate a Palmetto man they say was wrongfully convicted of rape. The Innocence Project of Florida says DNA test results prove Derrick Williams did not rape a woman in 1992. Authorities say the woman was kidnapped when she arrived home from work. The attacker forced her back into her car and drove to an orange grove, where she was raped in the back seat.

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"MANATEE COUNTY - Prosecutors are fighting the release of a Palmetto man who has served 17 years in prison on a rape conviction that advocates say should be reversed due to new DNA evidence, court records filed Friday state," the Herald Tribune story by reporter Todd Ruger, published earlier today under the heading, "Inmate's release is sought after DNA test of shirt," begins.

"Derrick Williams has served 17 years in prison for a rape conviction," the story continues.

"The Florida Innocence Project this year tested a gray T-shirt worn by the attacker, and found that sweat and skin cells on the inside of the shirt collar did not come from Derrick Williams, 47, who is in prison on the rape charge.

Williams' attorneys filed motions to vacate his kidnapping and rape convictions and life prison sentence, saying the attacker would have left DNA on the shirt because it was a hot day.

But prosecutors disagreed in court records filed Friday, saying that the evidence at trial was so overwhelming that tests of the DNA would not have affected the jury's verdict.

The test weakens the value of the T-shirt, prosecutors wrote, because it found three DNA profiles and did not find Williams' DNA profile. There was only one attacker, but different people had contact with the shirt.

"There are a limitless number of ways to explain how foreign DNA could have been left on an article of clothing as easy to transfer from one individual, as this T-shirt is," Assistant State Attorney Spencer Rasnake wrote.

The shirt played a key role in Williams' 1993 conviction. A woman escaped from the rape with her attacker's gray T-shirt, and she identified Williams in court as the man who took off his shirt to cover her face during the attack. Williams' girlfriend also told the jury that he left home that day wearing a gray shirt but returned with a red one.

Friday's filing means the case will move forward to arguments before a judge at a later date."

The story can be found at:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100911/ARTICLE/9111015/2055/NEWS

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;