OIP assisting Ohio man convicted of robbery in bid to clear name

A Euclid, Ohio, man working with the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) to clear his name is confident that forensic reports in his case will exonerate him.

David Rawls, who was convicted of a 1996 robbery, has continued his fight to clear his name despite being released on parole in August. The Norwalk Reflector details the latest update in his bid.

Don Caster, an attorney with the OIP and an associate professor of law, explains that police told the jury in Rawl’s first trial there were no fingerprints taken from the crime scene.

“We know that they did collect exclusive prints or comparison prints. I question whether they have done that if they really didn't get latent prints from the crime scene,” Caster said. “If they found prints to an unknown person, who wasn’t David or an employee of the store, then I think there’s a serious question as to that statement to the jury.”

Caster said there are fingerprints in a police report of an employee who was a victim of the robbery, which should have been brought to trial.

“The fingerprints alone is a knockout punch because it’s protocol and procedure from day one when you go to any crime scene, period,” Caster said.

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