Freedom granted, but not innocence

[flashl]

State to drop charges in 1986 killings of newlywed couple

A man convicted nearly 21 years ago in the murders of a newlywed couple from central Illinois is expected to go free next week after prosecutors on Friday filed a motion to drop charges against him.

The motion by the Illinois appellate prosecutor's office asks Edgar County Circuit Court Judge James Glenn to dismiss charges against Herb Whitlock, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence in the 1986 slayings of Karen and Dyke Rhoads in Paris, Ill.

Whitlock, 61, likely will be released at a court hearing on Tuesday, said Charles Colburn, one of the special prosecutors who signed the motion.

The case jumped to prominence a decade ago when experts in wrongful prosecutions branded it a miscarriage of justice, saying authorities used tainted evidence to convict two innocent men. Attorneys who have exposed similar cases in Illinois said Whitlock and his one-time co-defendant, Gordon "Randy" Steidl, were railroaded by police and prosecutors who put lying witnesses on the stand.

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Chicago's 'Two-Ton' prosecutor scandal just keep on and on .....

[Hillary2008.]

1. hmm

interesting