They kept him locked up, knowing he was falsely convicted. And then they would not even let him come here to Washington to tell the American people what happened. We need to hear from such people like Earl Washington , not hide them from public view. This case tells us we cannot sit back and assume prosecutors and courts will do the right thing when it comes to DNA evidence. It took Earl Washington years to convince prosecutors to do the very simple tests that would prove his innocence, and more time still to win his freedom.
Some States continue to stonewall on requests for DNA testing.
They continue to hide behind time limits and procedural default rules to deny prisoners the opportunity to present DNA test results in court. They continue to destroy DNA evidence that could set innocent people free. These practices must stop. I have long supported and I continue to support funding to ensure that law enforcement has access to DNA testing and all the other tools it needs to investigate and prosecute crime in our society. But if we as a society are committed to getting it right, and not just to getting a conviction, we need to make sure that DNA testing, and the ability to present DNA evidence to the courts, is also available to the defense.