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In a landmark moment for justice, Leonard Mack, a Vietnam War veteran, was exonerated this week after spending nearly five decades wrongfully convicted of rape and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in March 1976. New DNA evidence was brought to light by the Innocence Project.

 Represented by Susan Friedman, a senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project, and Post-conviction Litigation Fellow Mary-Kathryn Smith, Mack's journey to exoneration sheds light on the critical issues of eyewitness misidentification, racial bias, and tunnel vision.

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The Westchester County District Attorney's Conviction Review Unit confirmed that Mack was innocent all along.

Smith, emphasized that, "Today, indisputable DNA evidence proves that Leonard Mack is innocent. Nearly five decades later, he finally has some measure of justice."

Miriam E. Rocah, the Westchester County District Attorney, issued a strong statement, stating, "Today we're asking the courts to find Leonard Mack actually innocent for a rape he never committed; for which he unjustly served more than seven years in prison. This exoneration and the new DNA evidence confirm that wrongful convictions are not only harmful to the wrongly convicted but also make us all less safe."

The critical DNA profile developed from the crime scene evidence was subsequently uploaded to state and local DNA databases, leading to the true assailant. He was identified through this DNA. And has confessed to the crime.

 The groundbreaking exoneration of Leonard Mack is the longest-known wrongful conviction to be overturned based on new DNA evidence known to the Innocence Project. 

Innocence Project points to errors in the case

His exoneration wouldn't have been possible without the diligent efforts of the Innocence Project, the Westchester County District Attorney, and the Conviction Review Unit, all committed to seeking the truth.

In Mack's case, racial bias was evident as he was arrested based on little more than matching the assailant's race. Such racial disparities persist in wrongful convictions, with innocent Black Americans being seven times more likely than white Americans to be falsely convicted of serious crimes, according to the Innocence Project's data.

Despite having alibi witnesses and serological evidence from the victim's underwear that excluded Mack in 1976, he was convicted and sentenced to prison for seven and a half years. For the past 41 years, he carried the weight of this wrongful conviction.