Perhaps A False Confession?
Posted by Anthony on June 25, 2009
Juan Rivera, convicted for a third time in the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old baby-sitter in Waukegan, was sentenced to life without parole today as a high-profile defense team busily prepared its latest appeal .
A jury found Rivera, 36, guilty on May 8 of the rape and murder of Holly Staker, choosing to rely on testimony that he confessed to the crime although DNA evidence found inside Staker’s body was not Rivera’s.
Hold on. He confesses, but the DNA inside Staker is NOT his? The jury really took a confession over science?
This is very interesting…usually confessions should be taken seriously, but science trumps a confession.
Prosecutors downplayed the contradictory DNA evidence, suggesting the girl might have had sex with someone else before she met Rivera or that the sample had been contaminated.
Defense lawyers argued that the prosecution presented no evidence to back up their suggestions that Holly had been sexually active or that the DNA was contaminated. During the trial, her twin sister testified that Holly had been molested by a neighbor while in third grade.
This is a very interesting case…I think the jury convicted him out of sympathy for the victim’s family.
