What does it take to prove a man guilty of murder? Apparently, not much.
Anthony Dansberry was convicted of robbery and murder for an attack on an elderly woman. The evidence that led to his conviction? A palm print. An eyewitness identification.
But the palm print didn’t match Anthony’s. And the eyewitness who picked Anthony out of a lineup had previously viewed his picture in a photo array. Another eyewitness viewing the same lineup picked a different man, and still another said Anthony was definitely not the perpetrator.
The real problem is that Anthony signed a confession. But Anthony is developmentally challenged and has the reading comprehension of a first grader. The confession he signed, the confession he was told were release papers, used words he didn’t even understand.
Unfortunately, there’s none of the DNA evidence we’ve come to rely on that could prove Anthony’s innocence. Instead, we need common sense. That is in short supply; Anthony has already served 22 years of a 75 year sentence.