MENARD, Ill. (AP) — Attorneys for two Illinois brothers wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a young girl in 1991 expect them to walk out of a southern Illinois prison after DNA evidence led a judge to vacate their convictions.
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MENARD, Ill. (AP) — Attorneys for two Illinois brothers wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a young girl in 1991 expect them to walk out of a southern Illinois prison after DNA evidence led a judge to vacate their convictions.
The attorneys say 34-year-old Jonathan Barr and 36-year-old James Harden should be released from Menard Correctional Center on Friday.
The men were among five teen-agers convicted of raping and killing Cateresa Matthews in Dixmoor, a Chicago suburb.
The brothers have maintained their innocence. DNA testing that linked a convicted rapist to the crime led prosecutors to reopen the case this year.
A Cook County judge this week vacated their convictions and that of another man, Robert Taylor, who was released from prison Thursday. Two other men convicted in the crime have served their sentences.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
James Harden (left) Jonathan Barr (right) (AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections)
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