TX- Exonerated Man Speaks Out About Wrongful Sexual Assault Conviction

12-15-2008 Texas:

Louisiana native Ricardo Rachell says people in Texas have been amazingly wicked to him.

“I got shot in 1992. In 2002, ... accused me of raping a child. So they did not want me alive. They wanted me in prison,” says Rachell.

Days before Christmas, he has been released from prison after the county admits he was wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 2002. In 1992, in an unrelated incident, he was shot in the face after someone accused him of being on their property.

"It is bad," said Rachell, describing his life in Texas.

Rachell was wrongly convicted because the court system did not consider DNA evidence in his trial. DNA from a rape kit was never tested. After more than five years spent in prison, DNA evidence was analyzed that proved Rachell’s innocence.

Since 2001, when the Texas legislature began allowing inmates to request DNA tests, more than 500 cases have been reviewed. Several prisoners, like Rachell, have been exonerated.

He says he has survived prison with the "child molester” label by the grace of God and believes life on the streets could be worse without scientific proof of his innocence.

"I am lucky I went to prison. If I had not gone to prison, I probably wouldn't have been alive," says Rachell. He is as scarred on the inside as he is on the outside. He can hardly eat solid foods.

“He had a prosthesis that got lost in the course of him going from the court room to prison, but he never got it back," explains his step father.

So what is next for Mr. Rachell? When his legal affairs are complete, he plans to disappear. "Probably go back home. Move back to Louisiana. Move out of Texas" he said.

According to Texas law, he is entitled to some monetary compensation for time served. He can also sue the state, but that is a lengthy process. ..News Source.. by FOX News