Three Illinois men freed after 14 years in jail; DNA cleared them off murder-rape conviction

Three Chicago men who spent more than 14 years in prison for the murder and rape of a medical student were freed after prosecutors said DNA tests cleared them of their convictions.

Circuit Judge Dennis J. Porter ordered Calvin Ollins, 29, his cousin, Larry Ollins, 31, and Omar Saunders, 32, released 14 years after their convictions. All were serving life sentences without parole.

The judge also removed the conviction against a fourth man, Marcellius Bradford, who served 6 1/2 years after he testified against the other three. He now says he falsely confessed under police coercion to save himself from a life sentence. He is in jail for another crime.

Prosecutors said initial investigation linking the men to the 1986 rape and slaying of Lisa Roscetti on Chicago's West Side was based on the best evidence available. A crime lab analyst, Pamela Fish, testified semen found on Roscetti's body could have belonged to the men.

But a DNA expert later examined Fish's notes and said they showed none of the four men had a blood type matching the samples. More DNA tests ordered by Judge Porter this spring found that the hair and semen on Roscetti's jacket were not from any of the four defendants.

"We can't be afraid to say a mistake was made," said Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine.

The four men were the latest to be released after wrongful convictions in Chicago-area courts. Thirteen men have been freed from Death Row in Illinois since 1987 because of wrongful convictions, which prompted Gov. George Ryan to impose a moratorium on capital punishment in the state.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said he plans to apologize to the men for their wrongful sentences.

Saunders told the Chicago Sun-Times: "There is no apology he could give us that would restore the time they took from us or wipe away the trauma we all went through in this place."

As he walked out of Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, IL, Larry Ollins said: "Nothing can make up for the unjust deprivation of 15 years, half of our individual lives."

Defense attorney Kathleen Zellner said she plans to file a wrongful prosecution case. She said she will also seek clemency for her clients from the governor, which would entitle each man to $120,000 from the state.

"I cannot overstate the official misconduct, the abuse of power, the activities that went on that I believe were criminal in nature," Zellner said.

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