Ill. man leaves prison after murder case dropped

This undated photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows inmate Andre Davis. State officials on Friday, July 6, 2012, say that Davis, 50, who has spent more than 30 years behind bars after being convicted of murder in a 1980 killing in eastern Illinois is scheduled to be released from prison after prosecutors dismissed charges against him. / AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections

(AP) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A Chicago man who spent more than 30 years behind bars before DNA evidence helped overturn his conviction in the rape and killing of a 3-year-old girl was released from prison late Friday, just hours after prosecutors dropped the case against him.

An Illinois appeals court in March had ordered a new trial for 50-year-old Andre Davis after tests found that DNA taken from the scene of the 1980 killing of Brianna Stickle wasn't his. The girl was attacked in Rantoul, about 20 miles north of Champaign.

Davis was released from the super-maximum security prison in Tamms in far southern Illinois around 7:30 p.m., said Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kayce Ataiyero. Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz had decided earlier in the day not to pursue charges against him.

Judy Royal of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, which represented Davis, said he was the longest-serving of the 42 people exonerated by DNA evidence in Illinois.

"Mr. Davis served 32 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit," Royal said. "Tamms is a difficult place to do time. He's hoping to rebuild his life, with the support of his family."

It wasn't immediately known if Davis' family was at the prison when he walked out. Davis' father was traveling to Tamms on Friday afternoon and couldn't be reached for comment.

Reitz said that while she didn't doubt the results of the DNA tests, she decided not to retry Davis because of the difficulty in taking a 32-year-old case to trial — not because of those tests.

"After 30 years, witnesses are either deceased, missing or no longer credible to testify," said Rietz, who has been state's attorney in Champaign County since 2004. "Based on the age of the case and the current state of the evidence, we elected to dismiss."

She noted that Davis was twice convicted by juries. His first conviction was overturned because of a mistake made by a bailiff during jury deliberations.

Rietz said any further steps in the investigation of Briana's death will be up to police. Rantoul Police Chief Paul Farber did not return a call regarding the status of the investigation.

Davis was arrested shortly after Briana was found on Aug. 8, 1980, in a house on the street where she lived with her mother and stepfather in Rantoul.

According to trial testimony, Davis — who was 19 at the time — was visiting his father in Rantoul. He spent the day the girl died drinking at the home where she was eventually found with the two brothers who lived there. At some point the brothers left, leaving Davis there alone.

Briana's stepfather, Rand Spragg, said he left the girl playing in the family's front yard and last saw her sitting under a tree.

The family later searched for her. She was found in the brothers' home, naked and under bed clothes in a utility room. She died that night at a local hospital.

An acquaintance of Davis told police that Davis said he'd killed "a woman" at the home.

DNA testing wasn't available in 1980. But in 2004, Davis requested that evidence gathered at the scene of Briana's death be DNA tested.

According to the tests, blood and semen found at the scene weren't from Davis. That led to the March appellate court decision.

Friday's planned release caught Davis' attorneys off guard. Most were on vacation, expecting that he might be released next week.

Royal, who works closely with Davis' lead attorney, Jane Raley, didn't represent him. She wasn't sure what plans Davis had, but she said that after so many years he was fortunate that family members were still alive to greet him and help him acclimate to life outside prison.

"A lot of times when people are incarcerated for lengthy periods of time, family members die," Royal said. "That is one good thing, that he will have their support."

"I think it's difficult for him to know exactly what to do," she added, noting that the Center on Wrongful Convictions works with the people it helps free to aid in their adjustment. "I know that he's very intelligent and he has been assisting in the preparation of his appeal for years and giving some good suggestions in that regard."

Attempts to reach members of Briana's family were not successful.

[ThoughtsJustThoughts]

I would caution everyone from jumping to the conclusion he is innocent because this DNA evidence did not match. We don't know what other evidence there was. The blood was probably the poor little girl's who was brutally raped to death. The ***** could have belonged to the brother's or whoever since she was found under bedclothes, not necessarily those of the perpetrator. There may have been other DNA evidence that could have convicted him at the time. Again, you don't know the details of the case. You can't go back 30 years to collect or test evidence, and again, even if witnesses aren't dead, just finding them and then getting them to testify would be nearly impossible. I hope he is innocent because I would hate to see a monster capable of doing what he was found guilty of by TWO juries released and on the streets.

[meanslayer]

These problems will continue to happen unless immunity is taken away from prosecutors. And they should be appointed with recommendations from the bar association, rather than elected.

[Htos1]

Excellent,any win against our terminally corrupt judicial is a win for citizens,imagine what it was like then!But wait-there's more!Just wait 'til the laws kick in,in 2k14!

[tmittelstaed]

Well since an acquaintance of Davis claimed that Davis said he killed the girl, which we now have proof wasn't true, I would suggest that the acquaintance be tested for a DNA match with the evidence.

[csuf_grad]

So he's roughly 51, and he's spent the best 32 years of his life behind bars for a rape/murder of a little girl he didn't commit. He just got passed out drunk in the same house a little girl was attacked by somebody else. You don't know to appreciate what you have until it's gone. Pretty sick.

This story makes me wonder what I'm going to do by the time I'm 50, now that I'm almost 34. I would say that 55 is the new 40. I feel like taking a gigantic risk with the years of my life in honor of him. For me to say 55 is too old is like me saying his life is over. But it's just beginning. So if I believe in him, I have no less than 20 years to fool around with.

A master's degree in computer science is good for a guy not yet 34. Maybe it's realistic to get a PhD in chemical engineering, if I believe in any sort of a life for this guy.

[audemus]

You have a very constructive way of viewing this situation....there are a lot of people who could benefit from an attitude such as yours.

Godspeed.

[smittyc]

Pretty scary but hardly surprising. This story highlights how badly Illinois is run both currently and historically. Just one town, Chicago had over 250 murders from Jan till present so you imagine what is happening in other towns in Illinois.

[howbizarre]

Chicago is just one city in Illinois. What happens in Chicago may or may not be indicative of the crime in the rest of the state. I wouldn't base all of Michigan crime on the crime level of Detroit. Same argument can be made of any state with one large city in it.

[ludvig1-2009]

For crimes without DNA evidence, one has to wonder how many people are in jail for crimes they didn't do. In two adjoining counties, Contra costa and Marin County in two separate instances two people were arrested for robbing banks because they looked like the bank robber. The cops declared in the Contra Costa county arrest, that their suspect had video proof that he was in Washington State at the time of the robbery, so let him go. In Marin County, the lawyer they arrested for robbing a bank took 4 months to clear his name even though someone elses fingerprints were on the holdup note. Then there was the Spanish train bombing where the FBI told this Arab man living in the Northwest that his fingerprints were on the bomb fragments according to 4 of their experts. He knew they weren't his, so he hired his own expert who told him the fingerprints were his. Eventually Spanish authorities arrested the man whose fingerprints they were. In the town I live in, 8 bar video cameras showed a cop slugging a woman in a bar. He later told the District Attorney to charge the husband with slugging his wife. He was not fired. If I serve on a jury, I'll have to take any evidence presented by the prosecution with a grain of salt.

[LordoftheNile]

Illinois has the highest rate of wrongful convictions. The victim has to prove his innocence in order to receive any compensation.