MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A retired district court judge has overturned a man’s conviction for a 2002 rape at the juvenile detention center in Missoula.
In an order issued Tuesday, District Judge Ed McLean wrote that testimony given during a December hearing undermined his confidence in the conviction against Cody Marble, who was 17 when he was charged with raping a 13-year-old boy.
“I have been waiting for this moment for many, many years,” Marble, 32, said in a statement released by the Montana Innocence Project. “I am grateful for the support and dedicated work of the Montana Innocence Project, and all of the lawyers and volunteers who worked on my case.”
Attorney Colin Stephens, who took Marble’s case pro bono, told the Missoulian (bit.ly/2iMhFKm) he doubts the case will be retried.
Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst “has always been on board with putting an end to this,” Stephens said.
Prosecutors will file a motion asking for the charge against Marble to be dismissed, Deputy Missoula County Attorney Matt Jennings confirmed Tuesday.
The Montana Innocence Project filed a petition for post-conviction relief for Marble in 2010. It was denied in 2012, and the innocence project appealed. The Montana Supreme Court reversed the denial in 2015 and remanded the case to district court for further proceedings using a broader interpretation of evidence that had come to light since the trial.
Pabst filed a motion in April 2016 asking the judge to dismiss the case arguing that at least three witnesses, including the accuser, had recanted their testimony and that jail officers said there was no window of opportunity for the rape to have happened.
McLean didn’t grant Pabst’s motion, but he ordered Marble released from prison.
During the hearing last month, Montana Innocence Project legal director Larry Mansch said the accuser told him he was bullied by older inmates in juvenile detention into making up the accusation against Marble.
“He said he was sorry it happened. He never thought it was going to go this far,” Mansch said.
The interview was not recorded, and the accuser declined to sign a sworn affidavit of his recantation, Mansch said. The accuser killed himself during a standoff with law enforcement officers in Havre in 2014.
___
Information from: Missoulian, https://www.missoulian.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.