DALLAS – A judge on Monday overturned the 1993 conviction of a deaf man who was sent to prison for raping a 5-year-old girl despite an absence of physical evidence linking him to the attack.
Stephen Brodie, 39, dropped his head in relief after an interpreter signed to him that Judge Lena Levario had set aside his conviction on the grounds of actual innocence. He then turned to face the courtroom audience, some of whom waved both hands in the air — sign language for applause.
“I feel like a burden has been lifted,” Brodie told reporters through a translator. “I feel light. I feel extremely happy.”
Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100928/us-deaf-inmate-exoneration/
Courtesy of JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer• Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:31 pm ET