Preface:
I have not done any research on the case done by CNN, just their case. I do have a little bit of experience with the Innocence Project. When I was a freshman at WSU, a man named David Max Cooke came and spoke to our Criminal Justice 101 Class. Cooke had been sentenced to death and spent 22 years in jail before being exonerated because he was, in fact, innocent.
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From what CNN has compiled about the above case about Dean Cage, it appears as if he is innocent. Cage was sentenced to 40 years for the brutal rape of a young woman because of an eyewitness testimony. There is/was no physical evidence linking Cage to the rape.
The victim was brutally raped and gave sketch artists a description of the assailant. From this sketch, an anonymous tip pointed law enforcement officials to Dean Cage. Cage had never been arrested and had no connection to the victim, other than the anonymous tip from the sketch. Cage had a similar leather jacket as the assailant did, and the victim identified Cage as the rapist.
It is important to realize that the possible false identification by the victim isn't necessarily her fault. The brain simply doesn't remember like we'd like to believe. Here's a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time:
"Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation..." --Memento
What's even scarier about this case is that Dean Cage has/had an alibi. His fiancee testified that he was in bed with her on the morning of the rape.
No physical evidence, an alibi, and just an eyewitness testimony, and he's locked away?
In a country that is innocent until proven guilty, this one case sure goes against the grain. Cage shouldn't have even went to trial for the case, barring lack of evidence. There needs to be some physical link between him and the rape. STD analysis showed the victim to have two different STDs, and Cage tested negative for them. Yes, STDs are not transmitted 100% of the time, but it should've at least caused skepticism in the case. This is human lives you are talking about here, and locking some people up because of very little/flawed evidence is something that need a good, hard look for the future
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