Man Freed From Prison After 25 Years Due to "Outrageous Misconduct"
The experience of a man freed from prison after 25 years for a wrongful conviction demonstrates the importance of having knowledgeable criminal defense representation.

October 21, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- David Joseph Munchinski was recently released from a Pittsburg prison after serving 25 years for a double murder he didn't commit. He was freed after the evidence used to convict him was called into serious doubt amid allegations of misconduct by prosecutors.

Munchinski stood trial for murder in 1983, but it ended in a mistrial because of a hung jury. He was retried in 1986 and found guilty, but he always maintained his innocence and spent the years since arguing that the trials were compromised by suppressed exculpatory evidence and prosecutorial misconduct.

After presenting his arguments of innocence to a federal court, the judge found that Munchinski was indeed wrongfully convicted because of "outrageous misconduct" by the prosecutors that "casts a pall of doubt over every single piece of evidence presented by the prosecution in support of its case."

Evidence Called Into Question

In Munchinski's trial, the prosecutors relied almost entirely on the testimony of a single witness who claimed to have witnessed Munchinski rape and shoot the two victims. However, the federal court judge said in her ruling that the alleged witness's story changed so often "that one wonders whether he witnessed the murders at all."

In addition, the only physical evidence presented in the case was an incomplete autopsy report. At the time of the trials, DNA evidence from the autopsy could not have been examined, but when it was analyzed years later, it proved inconclusive as to the identity of the alleged attacker.

The complexity of this case underscores the importance of having an experienced criminal defense attorney when facing criminal charges. By the time Munchinski was eventually released from prison, he had endured the original police investigation (which lasted five years), the 1983 and 1986 trials and multiple post-conviction appeals, including this latest habeas corpus petition.

If you have been charged with a crime or are under investigation, contact a knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer to protect your rights.

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