I Didn’t Do It TV - Crime Library online - The Independence Institute online -
A woman murdered and her granddaughter assaulted. The young victims appeared to know who did it. I Didn’t Do It: Clarence Elkins, Blaze 2012
Sunday June 7th 1998 8:00 a.m. Barberton: In the early morning hours six-year-old Brooke Sutton made an horrific discovery at her grandmother’s house. ibid.
In desperation they turned to the Ohio Innocence Project. ibid.
Earl Mann faced justice for the grandmother he murdered and the child he raped. ibid.
The untested evidence was sent to an independent lab, and the pubic hairs were found to be inconsistent with Clarence Elkins’ hair, and the DNA evidence excluded him as its source. However, the court denied another trial because DNA had not been part of the original case. In addition, Brooke’s later testimony was not admissible, because it had been hypnotically refreshed. In essence, Clarence was stuck. Neither physical evidence nor eyewitness testimony could gain him a new hearing and thus free him. Crime Library online article
‘Uncle Clarence killed Grandma.’
That sentence spoken in 1998 by six-year-old Brooke Sutton initiated a seven-year nightmare for Inmate Number A375856, who was convicted of murder and child rape. The nightmare ended on Dec 15 2005 when the State of Ohio released Clarence Elkins and agreed to pay him more than $1 million for wrongful imprisonment.
The Ohio Dayton Daily News has been featuring a remarkable series of articles that present the Elkins’ case ...
In the Elkins’ case, Clarence along with his wife and two children suffered terribly. But a traumatized and confused child was also brutalized by authorities who did not listen to her doubts but only to what they wanted to hear. Now 14 years old, Brooke has been tortured by having caused her uncle to be imprisoned while her grandmother’s murderer walked free.
Elkins has forgiven his niece for the nightmare that began on June 6, 1998. The Independent Institute online article 15th August 2006