Man Released From Prison After 15-Year False Conviction
After spending 15 years in prison Bruce Godschalk was released from a Montgomery County jail. Godschalk asked for the assistance of the Innocence Project at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York to represent him in 1995.
The law schools attorneys and local Philadelphia lawyer David Rudovsky fought with the prosecutors’ office to have the DNA evidence released so they could submit it for DNA testing. The DNA testing proved that Godschalk was innocent of the rape charges he had been tried and sentenced to prison. Even a personal injury lawyer could figure that out. Godschalk was convicted in large part on a statement to Upper Merion Township Police Detectives, which he said had been coerced.
The Innocence Project a non profit organization felt Godshalks case showed the need for this type of service in Pennsylvania and have opened the Pennsylvania Innocence Project at Temple University. Where they plan to investigate statewide applications from inmates. As an aside if you need a Philadephia personal injury lawyer please take a look here.
The Innocence Project was started in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld and according to Eric Ferrero there have been 234 inmates exonerated using DNA evidence across the country. This includes nine inmates that have been released from prison in Pennsylvania after DNA testing proved their innocence. It obviously pays to have a good personal lawyer.