Original Article Evidence sets prisoner free after 13 years Associated Press Apr. 3, 2005 12:00 AM GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A man has been freed after 13 years in prison for a death authorities thought was caused by a blow from a whiskey bottle, but which new evidence suggests occurred when the victim was hit by a motor home. Larry Souter, 53, was tried in 1992 and sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison for the death of 19-year-old Kristy Ringler. She was found in the middle of a road in 1979 and later died from head wounds. For years, medical experts disagreed about how Ringler was injured. One said she was probably hit by a vehicle, another said the wound matched the shape of a whiskey bottle found on the road. In January, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found "sufficient doubt" about Souter's guilt to order a federal judge to determine if he deserved a new trial. Then a new witness came forward. The woman read about Souter's appeal and recalled that her father's motor home had a broken mirror in 1979 and had refused to talk about how it was damaged. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/2267.html Michigan man seeks to start afresh after release Posted on : 2005-04-03| Author : Peter Goodyear Justice delayed is justice denied, but Larry Souter, 53, who spent 13 years in prison, after being convicted of killing a minor in 1979, is not a bitter man. Instead he says he is very happy to be free and is looking forward to starting afresh. In 1979, Souter was supposed to have hit Kristy Ringler, with a whiskey bottle, which caused her death. She was found on of M-37 in Newaygo County and later succumbed to her head wounds. Doctors were divided over what exactly caused the head wound; some were of the opinion that it was caused by a car while others threw in their lot behind a whiskey bottle that was found near the site. Souter was convicted in 1992 when another expert said that the wounds conformed to being hit by a whiskey bottle. He has always maintained that Ringler refused to let him drive her home and after she went on her way, he returned to the bar. The court did not buy his version of events and he was sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison. His lawyers however continued their appeals against the conviction and finally their attempts were fruitful in January when the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a federal judge in Grand Rapids to review the available evidence. This time a new witness came forward with an amazing revelation that her father had a broken mirror on his Dodge Champion motor home as a result of some accident in 1979. The womans name has been withheld and her father died about five years ago. He had always refused to talk about what caused it. After a check of records it was found that the man was he was driving on M-37 during the time Ringler was hit. This new evidence was enough to convince the U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist to release Souter. Souter's attorney John Smietanka said, "They are convinced he should have his conviction set aside. They're not going to try him again." http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3158022 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. A man who spent 13 years in prison for murder has been freed. Fifty-three-year-old Larry Souter says he's NOT a bitter person. He says he's very excited and very emotional. He was released from prison yesterday. He was convicted in 1992 of killing 19-year-old Kristy Ringler back in 1979 by hitting her over the head with a whiskey bottle in Newaygo County. Medical examiners have disagreed about whether the head trauma that killed her was more likely from a traffic accident or homicide. But in January a federal appeals court found enough evidence to cast doubt on his guilt, and since then a new witness has come forward. Souter's lawyer says the witness remembers her father having a broken mirror on his motor home that summer, and records show he was driving in the area at the time. Ringler was just taller than the mirror. The witness' father died about five years ago. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-1/111252332094820.xml 'A sad day for the system' Sunday, April 03, 2005 By Cami Reister The Grand Rapids Press The unexpected release of a West Michigan man who served 13 years in prison for a homicide he maintained he did not commit has triggered myriad emotions for those involved with the case. Convicted in Newaygo County in 1992, Larry Souter was released Friday after new evidence showed the victim he was accused of hitting in the head with a bottle was more likely hit by the side mirror of a passing motor home. While Souter, 53, is home with his family in the Grand Rapids area and "excited and very emotional," the victim's family is struggling with disbelief. "It's all a bunch of lies," said Eloise Symons, mother of victim Kristy Ringler, who died in Newaygo County in 1979 at age 19. "There's absolutely no truth to the story ... about her being hit by a vehicle." Symons cited the way in which her daughter's body was found in the middle of M-37 near White Cloud. That also was cited by Alan Rapoport who, as Newaygo County Assistant Prosecutor in 1992, successfully convicted Souter. "It was the middle of the road, head on the center line, perpendicular to the line of travel and arms at her sides lying on her back," said Rapoport, now a semi-retired lawyer in Muskegon. "There was some testimony that that could not have happened accidentally." But a Grand Rapids woman has a vivid memory of her father removing the damaged side mirror of the family's RV, hours after Ringler's death, and not wanting to discuss why. Reading in January about Souter's efforts to get a new trial, it all came back to her, including her efforts to talk to police about her father. She came forward with her information, triggering Souter's attorneys, John Smietanka and co-counsel Anne Buckleitner, to file a Freedom of Information request with the Newaygo County sheriff's department. The documents included a handwritten note from the woman, which supports her claim that she approached investigators in 1979, and proof of an interview between police and the woman's father. The documents were not given to Souter's trial attorneys in 1992. Rapoport said they probably were not turned over to him, either. "I certainly wish I would have known about that at the time, because the last thing that anybody wants is for an innocent person to be convicted of a crime," he said. "I hope that Mr. Souter can get on with his life and put this behind him," he said. "It's a sad day for the system when something like this happens." U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist, who ordered Souter's release Friday, lauded Smietanka's efforts for his client. The federal courts regularly see appeals from people who are convicted of crimes in state courts and claim their constitutional rights were violated. "Most of them lack merit," Quist told Smietanka on Friday. "To find one that has merit -- you are to be highly commended for it." Smietanka, a former federal and state prosecutor, said: "This is the best thing I've ever done as a lawyer." Press reporter Ed White contributed to this report. 2005 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission