Dallas Prisoner Set Free On DNA Testing
After being convicted of murder and confined in a Texas prison for more than 27 years, James Lee Woodard joined an expanding list of prisoners whose convictions have been overturned because of DNA evidence.
Woodard was released from prison Tuesday, April 29 after DNA testing showed him not to be guilty of murder.
Texas District Judge Mark Stoltz told Woodward at a hearing before his release that, “No words can express what a tragic story yours is.”
The Associated Press reports that 31 people in Texas have been exonerated through DNA testing, a national high according to the news agency.
The Innocence Project, which works to overturn wrongful convictions, was instrumental in securing Woodward’s release.
Woodward was convicted of the 1980 murder of his girlfriend, according to the Innocence Project of Texas largely on the testimony of two eyewitnesses.