DNA test frees man in prison for 26 years

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 25 (UPI) -- A Florida judge Thursday threw out the rape and murder conviction of a man who served more than half his life in prison before DNA testing exonerated him.

"Let me take the opportunity to apologize to you for the criminal justice system of the state of Florida," Broward County Circuit Judge Thomas M. Lynch IV told Anthony Caravella, 41, who served more than half his life, or nearly 26 years, in prison for a crime DNA tests said he didn't commit.

"Good luck in the future, sir," Lynch said to Caravella.

Caravella was 15 and had an IQ of 67, well below normal, when he was charged with the Nov. 5, 1983, murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58, in Miramar, Fla.

Public defender Diane Cuddihy argued last year new evidence showed police had hit and coerced the mentally challenged teen into confessing, promising a girlfriend would be freed if he helped them.

Caravella later said he thought police would look foolish if they couldn't prove he did it, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale reported.

DNA test results exonerated Caravella Wednesday. County prosecutors asked Lynch Thursday to throw out his conviction and life sentence.

"I waited a very long time for this -- it feels good, man," the Sun-Sentinel quoted Caravella as saying.

Caravella was provisionally released six months ago when early tests seemed to clear him. But he had to wear a GPS monitor and obey a curfew while prosecutors did further forensic testing.

He said Thursday he felt 10 pounds lighter without the GPS device around his ankle.

He turned to Cuddihy and asked, "What do I do now?"

"Now you go home," she said.

Caravella said his first plans were "just getting my life in order."

Caravella may be entitled to financial compensation, but Cuddihy said she wanted to prove his innocence, not get money.