Jefferson City MO- George Allen Jr, of St Louis was freed from prison after more than 30 years for a rape and a murder he did not commit. There was plenty of evidence that could prove Allens' innocence, most of which was ignored during his trial. He was forced to make a bogus confession by an over zealous detective trying to get a conviction.
Judge Daniel Green overturned Allen’s 1982 rape and murder conviction on November 2, 2012 based on the police’s failure to disclose evidence pointing to his innocence and ordered Allen’s release. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce announced last week that she would not retry Allen for the crime. Nevertheless, Attorney General Chris Koster filed a meritless appeal to a state intermediate appeals court.
The Innocence Project has also called for a review of old St. Louis cases involving the detective who was supervised Allen’s interrogation and the lab analyst who did the serology testing in the case.
“I have spent 30 years in prison as an innocent man, and those have been difficult years for me and my family, but I never gave up hope,” Allen said. “I knew that some day the truth would come out. … Thank God this nightmare is finally ending.”
Judge Daniel Green overturned Allen’s 1982 rape and murder conviction on November 2, 2012 based on the police’s failure to disclose evidence pointing to his innocence and ordered Allen’s release. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce announced last week that she would not retry Allen for the crime. Nevertheless, Attorney General Chris Koster filed a meritless appeal to a state intermediate appeals court.
The Innocence Project has also called for a review of old St. Louis cases involving the detective who was supervised Allen’s interrogation and the lab analyst who did the serology testing in the case.
“We have serious concerns that this case is not an outlier and that there are other innocent people who are incarcerated on possible misconduct,” said Olga Akselrod of the New York-based Innocence Project.
“I have spent 30 years in prison as an innocent man, and those have been difficult years for me and my family, but I never gave up hope,” Allen said. “I knew that some day the truth would come out. … Thank God this nightmare is finally ending.”