Wrongful Conviction: Man cries freed after 18 years in prison for rape he did not commit
Thu May 17, 2018 03:31:pm Gist
4.5K By Obiaks Blog
Tomasz Komenda cried tears of relief and buried his face in his hands as a panel of judges declared him innocent.
A review of previous evidence using new forensic tests proved he could not have committed the crimes for which he was accused on New Years Eve in Poland in 1997.
Mr Komenda, now 42, was released from prison in March after prosecutors reviewed his case when the parents of the 15-year-old victim expressed doubts about his guilt.
Upon his release, he said: ‘For the last 18 years I have been asking myself: What have I done wrong to have my life turned into hell?
‘All that time, I was treated like filth.'
The teenage victim in the case was raped and murdered during a 1997 New Year party in south-western Poland.
Court documents showed she died from blood loss and freezing temperatures.
When police found her body, they initially predicted there were multiple suspects who left behind a large amount of evidence, including a woolly hat containing hairs and bite marks on the girl's body.
In explaining the verdict, the court said advanced forensic techniques had shed new light on the evidence collected at the time and excluded Mr Komenda as the killer.
It also pointed to mistakes in the process of gathering evidence and to a negligent approach to testimony from the defence witnesses.
Mr Komenda was jailed seven years after the crime, despite 12 people confirming his alibi that he was over two miles away from the scene at the time.
When he was arrested he complied fully with police, but says he was beaten and threatened and said: ‘They beat me so much that I would have even admitted to shooting the Pope.'
Mr Komenda's case has shocked Poland, with its right-wing government using it as an example of what it says is a malfunctioning justice system needing urgent reform.
Justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the acquittal shows that the mistakes of the justice system can be corrected.
‘No one can give back the years that Tomasz Komenda has lost. Still, the acquittal restores the sense of dignity of an innocent man who had been wrongly convicted,' he said.
Mr Komenda's lawyer, Zbigniew Cwiakalski, said he will seek more than 10 million zlotys (£2 million) in damages for Mr Komenda for the wrongful conviction and his years in prison.
An investigation into the failings has been launched.
METRO UK
A review of previous evidence using new forensic tests proved he could not have committed the crimes for which he was accused on New Years Eve in Poland in 1997.
Mr Komenda, now 42, was released from prison in March after prosecutors reviewed his case when the parents of the 15-year-old victim expressed doubts about his guilt.
Upon his release, he said: ‘For the last 18 years I have been asking myself: What have I done wrong to have my life turned into hell?
‘All that time, I was treated like filth.'
The teenage victim in the case was raped and murdered during a 1997 New Year party in south-western Poland.
Court documents showed she died from blood loss and freezing temperatures.
When police found her body, they initially predicted there were multiple suspects who left behind a large amount of evidence, including a woolly hat containing hairs and bite marks on the girl's body.
In explaining the verdict, the court said advanced forensic techniques had shed new light on the evidence collected at the time and excluded Mr Komenda as the killer.
It also pointed to mistakes in the process of gathering evidence and to a negligent approach to testimony from the defence witnesses.
Mr Komenda was jailed seven years after the crime, despite 12 people confirming his alibi that he was over two miles away from the scene at the time.
When he was arrested he complied fully with police, but says he was beaten and threatened and said: ‘They beat me so much that I would have even admitted to shooting the Pope.'
Mr Komenda's case has shocked Poland, with its right-wing government using it as an example of what it says is a malfunctioning justice system needing urgent reform.
Justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the acquittal shows that the mistakes of the justice system can be corrected.
‘No one can give back the years that Tomasz Komenda has lost. Still, the acquittal restores the sense of dignity of an innocent man who had been wrongly convicted,' he said.
Mr Komenda's lawyer, Zbigniew Cwiakalski, said he will seek more than 10 million zlotys (£2 million) in damages for Mr Komenda for the wrongful conviction and his years in prison.
An investigation into the failings has been launched.
METRO UK
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