Original Article Free After 17 Years for a Rape That He Did Not Commit By BARBARA NOVOVITCH Published: December 22, 2004 EL PASO, Dec. 21 - For his first day back "in the world" as a free man after nearly 17 years, Brandon Moon made sure he was dressed in blue, his favorite color, carrying a white cowboy hat, symbol of all Western good guys. He wore the horsehair belt a fellow prison craftsman made at his request and a belt buckle of his own design, an Eye of God cross embellished in nickel, brass and copper and set with a zircon stone. Shown by DNA testing to have been wrongly convicted of rape in 1988, Mr. Moon was released from prison at a court hearing here on Tuesday afternoon - the latest among 154 men and women in the United States exonerated by such tests. Mr. Moon and his parents were in the packed courtroom to hear the El Paso district attorney, Jaime Esparza, apologize for the wrongful conviction, for himself and for the State of Texas. With them were Barry Scheck, a lawyer from New York whose 12-year-old Innocence Project has accounted for more than half of those exonerated, and another lawyer from Mr. Scheck's office, Nina Morrison. "I know we can't give you back your years," Mr. Esparza said, "and for that I'm extremely sorry." Mr. Moon responded, "I accept your apology." The El Paso case suggested that Texas's crime laboratory scandals are not limited to Houston, where two other convicted Texans were exonerated earlier and two grand juries have investigated tainted evidence after a landmark DNA testing statute passed in 2001 by the Texas Legislature. In the courtroom, Mr. Scheck said he would ask for an audit of all cases using evidence from the Department of Public Safety's former blood-testing expert, Glen David Adams, whose incorrect scientific results helped to convict Mr. Moon on three counts of aggravated sexual assault, resulting in a 75-year sentence, and sample checks of other crime laboratory evidence. Mr. Adams worked at the Lubbock crime laboratory from 1986 to 1991. The department said that his whereabouts now were unknown. Mr. Scheck also called for pilot programs in eyewitness identification, citing mistaken identity as the "single greatest cause of innocents being convicted." David Dow, a law professor at the University of Houston, said that reforms were particularly urgent in Texas because "the pace of executions here is so much greater than in any other state." In Mr. Moon's case, the prosecution presented eyewitness testimony from the rape victim herself and three other women whose rapes followed a similar pattern. The rape victim picked out Mr. Moon from a photograph and police lineup, in which he was the only blue-eyed white male, a full 18 months after the attack. Mr. Scheck and Ms. Morrison both praised their client's efforts from prison to act as his own lawyer but said his pleas for DNA testing were fully heard only after the Innocence Project got involved last May and had a semen-stained bathrobe and a comforter from the bed where the rape took place re-examined. Mr. Moon, now 43, was "bounced around the courts like a Ping-Pong ball," Ms. Morrison said. "We only came in at the ninth inning." Counting the years, Mr. Moon said in an interview on Sunday before his release that he felt as if he had played for 17 innings - "it was a very long game." "The courts are so hostile to pro se litigants," said Ms. Morrison, referring to those who represent themselves. "The instinct is to deny, deny, deny." Still, after DNA results established Mr. Moon's innocence, "it took less than a week" for Mr. Esparza "to do the right thing," Ms. Morrison added. Mr. Moon, a four-year Army veteran, was a sophomore at the University of Texas at El Paso in 1987 when he was arrested on the rape charge. A member of the Air Force R.O.T.C., he had hoped to become a "lifer" in the Air Force and to fly fighter jets after his graduation. Instead he spent his prison years learning about blood tests and law in the prison libraries. Mr. Moon said an expert on flaws in eyewitness identification, Dr. Elizabeth F. Loftus of the University of Washington, had been "a tremendous help to me in understanding" what to do. In prison, Mr. Moon also spent his time learning to make jewelry and belt buckles, which he described as "my therapy" Mr. Moon's defense lawyer in 1988 was Norbert Garney, now a federal magistrate judge in El Paso. Mr. Garney produced two witnesses who partly corroborated Mr. Moon's alibi, but Mr. Adams's serology analysis, incorrectly describing Mr. Moon's blood sample as putting him among just 15 percent of the population who could possibly have been the source of semen stains, was the only scientific evidence presented. All other trace evidence analysis, including pubic hairs, excluded him. Judge Garney declined to comment on the case on Monday. "I have a lot of faith in the justice system," Mr. Moon said on Tuesday, adding that "it's made up of humans, and we make errors." He offered advice to other prisoners who know they are innocent: "No matter what you do, don't ever give up." http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking-News/DNA-tests-clear-man-after-17-years-jail/2004/12/22/1103391817569.html?oneclick=true DNA tests clear man after 17 years jail December 22, 2004 - 2:14PM Page Tools Email to a friend Printer format A man who served nearly 17 years for rape was freed from prison after DNA tests determined he was not responsible for the crime. Brandon Moon, 43, joined his parents, Frank and Shirley Moon, for the drive to their home in Kansas City, Missouri, following his release from the El Paso County jail. He said he felt "numb." "Have you ever had Novocain? It's a lot like that, just from head to toe," he told The Associated Press. Moon had been serving a 75-year sentence after his 1988 conviction for sexual assault. The El Paso district attorney and defence lawyers filed a successful joint motion to vacate the conviction. Nina Morrison, an attorney with the New York-based Innocence Project, said he would be released on $US1 bond until his conviction is officially vacated by the state Court of Criminal Appeals. "My office and the state of Texas, in the interest of truth, recognise the injustice Mr Moon has suffered," said El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza, who did not prosecute Moon. Advertisement AdvertisementHe may be eligible for compensation from the state of $US425,000 ($A555,918), or up to $US25,000 ($A32,701) for every year of his incarceration. Moon said he never lost faith when officials wouldn't listen while he maintained his innocence. "They're listening now," he said. He said his future plans are not yet set. "At least in part I'll continue making belt buckles, which has kind of kept me going over the years," he said of his silversmith work. "What I'll be doing other than that, I don't know." The motion to vacate Moon's conviction was based on recent DNA tests by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which defence attorneys and Esparza say prove Moon did not commit the April 1987 aggravated sexual assault. Serologist Glen Adams had testified Moon was among the 15 per cent of the population that could have possibly have been the source of semen evidence. Innocence Project lawyers contended the testimony implied Moon was the likely rapist - despite other biological evidence that exonerated him. "This case shows that the well-documented problems of crime lab error ... occur all over Texas," said lawyer Barry Scheck, the Innocence Project co-director. "This is also a classic case where faulty eyewitness identification procedures implicated the wrong man." DPS officials disputed that analysis. "During the original trial, the DPS analyst's testimony concluded that Brandon Moon could not be eliminated as a suspect," the agency said in a statement. The victim identified Moon from a police photo, but told police she couldn't remember whether her attacker had a mustache or identify the colour of his eyes. http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041222-2902.shtml 17-year ordeal finally ends for freed El Pasoan's family Charles K. Wilson El Paso Times Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Times Brandon Moon, in hat, walked out of district court Tuesday between his lawyers, Nina Morrison and Barry Scheck, after being released during a hearing at the El Paso County Courthouse. Frank and Shirley Moon waited for 17 years. And when the moment came, they let their emotions show with hugs, a few tears and smiles Tuesday after their son Brandon was freed from prison. The family's ordeal came to a close when Senior District Judge Sam Paxson accepted a request to vacate Brandon Moon's conviction in a 1987 rape case. The Moons called Tuesday's hearing a gift, but not theirs. They wanted the focus on their son. "Go to him," Frank Moon told a reporter and offered a thumbs-up. "Not me. Talk to Brandon." Frank Moon arrived early for the court hearing with a white cowboy hat meant to reflect his 43-year-old son's innocence. "He asked (me) to bring a white hat, a good-guy hat," Frank Moon said. "And to salute some (Department of Public Safety) troopers." Saturday, the Moons -- "working on 49 years of marriage" -- will gather with their five children and other family members at their home near Kansas City, Mo., and celebrate Christmas together, Shirley Moon said. The tension the family had felt for years lingered before and during the hearing. "Can we go hide someplace?" Shirley Moon asked at one point. Napkins dabbed at tears as the hearing progressed. Shirley Moon brought a tan belt for her son, who was dressed in a blue shirt and sweater, new blue pants still showing the folds, and new black loafers. She held another blue shirt on a hanger as she waited for Brandon Moon to finish paperwork to walk out of the county jail. "What can you say?" Frank Moon said. "He was practically dead, but now he's resurrected. I just thank God." He also said he will be eternally grateful to the Innocence Project, which took up Moon's case. After the hearing, the Moons resisted calls to join their son in front of the news media. This day, Shirley Moon reiterated, was for her son. "He's the one who suffered," she said. "We suffered, too, but that was a lot different. We were free." To help The Life After Exoneration Program provides assistance to people wrongly convicted and imprisoned for long periods. Donations to the program are tax-deductible, and all the money goes to clients. Contributions may be sent to LAEP/Tides Center, 760 Wildcat, Berkeley, CA 94708. Online: http://www.exonerated.org Charles K. Wilson may be reached at cwilson@elpasotimes.com; 546-6137. http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041222-2903.shtml Lab errors erode confidence in system, some lawmakers say Gary Scharrer Austin Bureau AUSTIN -- Some key Texas lawmakers say crime lab errors resulting in conviction of innocent people such as Brandon Moon must be corrected or the public will lose confidence in the criminal justice system. The Moon case and hundreds of tainted cases handled by the Houston Police Department's crime lab have inspired legislative hearings intended to find out what happened and how to fix those problems. "I think, temporarily, the publicity given to the Brandon Moon case and those cases coming out of the Houston lab erode the public's confidence in the forensic evidence and analysis of that evidence," state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, said Tuesday. State Senate Criminal Justice Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, will collect testimony at a hearing Jan. 4 in Houston to learn why criminal forensic labs are making so many mistakes. "We want to review the El Paso case carefully and learn what happened and to make certain we do everything possible to prevent another similar incident," Whitmire said. "I don't think we know the depth of the problem." Moon's lawyers contend that sloppy or faulty analysis of semen at the scene of a 1987 sexual assault of a West Side homemaker played a crucial role in influencing an El Paso jury to convict the former UTEP student and sentence him to 75 years in prison. He was released Tuesday because of DNA testing showing that Moon was "conclusively excluded" as the rapist. The Department of Public Safety's crime laboratory in Lubbock handled the evidence, and prosecutors touted the DPS as being "like the FBI of Texas" before agency serologist Glen David Adams testified at Moon's trial. The DPS expert told the El Paso jury that the semen from the assailant came from a person whose blood type could not be detected in such bodily fluids as saliva or semen. Such a person is considered a non-secretor. Adams determined that the crime scene evidence came from a non-secretor and told jurors that the victim's husband and son were secretors. Moon was part of a small group of the population who could have left the semen, according to the DPS serologist. But Adams' analysis was faulty because he failed to properly identify the victim and her husband also as non-secretors, Moon's lawyers said. Duncan agreed that the state needs to fix the problems, of the type coming out of the Department of Public Safety's Lubbock office, that helped convict Moon. Those DPS tests performed by serologist Adams "were far from 'reliable' -- indeed, they appear to be marred by incompetence, fraud, or both," Moon's lawyers said in court papers. "A very strict review of these labs is appropriate in order to repair the public's confidence in those labs," Duncan said. He is the author of legislation that state lawmakers passed in 2001 giving inmates such as Moon another chance to prove their innocence through DNA testing. Adams, who no longer works for the DPS, declined opportunities to rebut criticism or to defend his work. In a statement, DPS officials in Austin said Adams' trial testimony concluded that Moon could not be eliminated as a suspect. The evidence was tested in 1987 using the most up-to-date serology tests available at the time. Gary Scharrer may be reached at gscharrer@ elpasotimes.com; (512) 479-6606. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10469908.htm?1c Posted on Tue, Dec. 21, 2004 Man convicted of 1987 rape expected to be released Associated Press EL PASO, Texas - A man who served nearly 17 years for rape was freed from prison Tuesday after DNA tests determined that he was not responsible for the crime. Brandon Moon, 43, joined his parents, Frank and Shirley Moon, late Tuesday afternoon for a long drive to their home in Kansas City, Mo., following his release from the El Paso County jail. Asked what he was feeling in his first moments as a free man, Moon told The Associated Press, "Numb. Have you ever had Novacain? It's a lot like that, just from head to toe. " Moon, a former University of Texas at El Paso student, had been serving a 75-year sentence after his 1988 conviction on three counts of sexual assault. Throughout his years behind bars, he maintained his innocence and said he never lost faith when others wouldn't listen to him. "They're listening now," he said. Moon said he doesn't know what the future holds for him. "At least in part I'll continue making belt buckles, which has kind of kept me going over the years," he said, referring to his silversmith work while in prison. "What I'll be doing other than that, I don't know." The El Paso district attorney and defense lawyers filed a successful joint motion in court to vacate Moon's conviction. Nina Morrison, an attorney with the New York-based Innocence Project, said Moon would be released on $1 bond until his conviction is officially vacated by the state Court of Criminal Appeals. Jaime Esparza, district attorney for El Paso County for the past 10 years, apologized to Moon for his wrongful conviction. "My office and the state of Texas, in the interest of truth, recognize the injustice Mr. Moon has suffered," Esparza said. Moon, who accepted the apology, may be eligible for compensation from the state of up to $25,000 for every year of his incarceration. Moon's case was taken up this fall by the Innocence Project, which handles only cases in which DNA evidence can be used to prove the innocence of a convicted person. In this case, the challenge focused on testimony by a blood-typing specialist at the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab in Lubbock. DPS serologist Glen Adams testified that Moon was among the 15 percent of the population that could have possibly have been the source of semen evidence presented at Moon's trial in El Paso. Innocence Project lawyers contended that Adams' testimony implied that Moon was the likely rapist, despite that hair samples and other biological evidence exonerated him. "This case shows that the well-documented problems of crime lab error ... occur all over Texas," said lawyer Barry Scheck, Innocence Project co-director. "This is also a classic case where faulty eyewitness identification procedures implicated the wrong man." But DPS officials in Austin disputed that Adams made any suggestion that Moon was guilty. "During the original trial, the DPS analyst's testimony concluded that Brandon Moon could not be eliminated as a suspect," the agency said Tuesday in a written statement. "The evidence was tested in 1987 using the most up-to-date serology tests available at the time, tests that were commonly used by laboratories across the United States." DPS also said that Adams balanced his testimony by stating that pubic hair found at the scene did not match Moon, the victim or any of the victim's family members. The victim, who was assaulted at gunpoint in her home in April 1987, identified Moon from a police photo, but she told police she couldn't remember whether her attacker had a mustache or identify the color of his eyes. The Innocence Project concluded that the victim simply misidentified Moon as her attacker.