George Allen Will Remain Free—After being Wrongly convicted and imprisoned for three decades.                              

On Dec. 27, a Missouri appeals court, thankfully, refused to overturn a judge’s order that released George Allen. The St. Louis man had been imprisoned for nearly 30 years on a murder charge. “’We’re thrilled, we’re absolutely thrilled,’ said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project and one of the lawyers representing” Allen, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported the following day.

“Allen, 56, was released in November after Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green voided Allen’s convictions for murder, rape, sodomy and first-degree burglary in the killing of Mary Bell, 31. Green faulted city police for failing to turn over evidence to prosecutors and a ‘deeply flawed’ interrogation that led to a ‘dubious’ confession.

“’The undisclosed evidence, considered together, points unavoidably to the conclusion that the police — and Detective (Herb) Riley in particular — ignored and hid evidence pointing to someone else as the perpetrator in their zealous pursuit of Allen’s conviction,’ Green wrote.

“St. Louis prosecutors announced Nov. 7 that they would not retry Allen, saying that among other things, two key witnesses who might have explained the issues with Allen’s confession and the police interrogation have since died.” Attorney General Chris Koster, gratefully, has finally agreed not to push for a new trial.

To read the full article, log onto
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/appeals-court-rejects-challenge-to-st-louis-man-s-prison/article_40a8027f-002c-5245-8a6e-0efecdde0581.html

To read the November news release from the Innocence Project about his release, log ontohttp://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/St_Louis_Man_Who_Narrowly_Escaped_the_Death_Penalty_Released_After_Serving_More_Than_30_Years_In_Spite_of_Meritless_Appeal_by_AG.php?utm_source=AdaptiveMailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=November%20Newsletter&org=460&lvl=100&ite=421&lea=851758&ctr=0&par=1 

Fellowship of Reconciliation-Mid-MO chapter