Ballistics tests prove Illinois man innocent in murder case
Source: Associated Press
Ivan Moreno, Associated Pres
Updated 3:33 pm CST, Wednesday, January 16, 2019
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In this May 15, 2017 photo Patrick Pursley speaks in his apartment in Rockford, Ill. After being imprisoned nearly 24 years for the shooting death of Andy Ascher, Pursley has been absolved of the 1993 crime because the ballistics used to convict him proved to be wrong. Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Joseph McGraw acquitted Pursley of the murder on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. (Arturo Fernandez/Rockford Register Star via AP
An Illinois judge acquitted a man of murder Wednesday, more than two decades after jurors convicted him by relying on ballistics that proved to be wrong.
Supporters of 53-year-old Patrick Pursley clapped in a Winnebago County courtroom when Judge Joseph McGraw issued his ruling, saying prosecutors had scant evidence to prove Pursley's guilt in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Andy Ascher during a robbery in Rockford, Illinois in 1993.
The ruling caps a decades-long journey Pursley undertook to prove his innocence after spending 23 years in prison. He represented himself from prison for years and lobbied Illinois lawmakers to pass a law allowing the ballistics in his case to be retested using technology not available when he was convicted. The Integrated Ballistic Identification System, or IBIS, uses much higher-resolution and multi-dimensional images for ballistics analysis and ultimately matches shell casings to guns.
"Basically the whole experience was numbing," Pursley said after the verdict. "I was confident. All the signs were there that the judge would see the evidence for what it was. I'm just grateful that he did."
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Ballistics-tests-prove-Illinois-man-innocent-in-13538527.php
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