FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A mentally retarded Florida man has been freed after DNA testing cleared him of a rape and killing he confessed to 26 years ago when he was 15.
Anthony Caravella was granted conditional release, The Christian Science Monitor reported. If his conviction is overturned, he will be the 11th person in Florida to be freed because of DNA evidence.
Diane Cuddihy, the chief assistant public defender in Broward County, said Caravella admitted sexually assaulting and killing Ada Jankowski in Miramar, Fla., after being beaten, slapped and questioned for hours by police. But she said his confession did not match forensic evidence in the case, even though police used leading questions.
Caravella has a tested IQ of 67, just below the borderline for mental retardation.
Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida, said about 25 percent of the defendants cleared by DNA had confessed.
