A prime example of why you should never give up if you believe you were wrongfully convicted of a crime by a jury is the case of People vs. McDonald.

McDonald was a decorated Vietnam war veteran who was accused of brutally murdering his wife and two young girls to death. He was tried by a federal jury and was found guilty of murder in 1979.

That was 32 years ago.

McDonald has denied his guilt from the first day he was advised of the accusations against him. He was so strong in his commitment to his innocence that he has refused to consider being paroled because he would have to go the parole board and admit he committed the crimes.

All of his appeals were denied and in 1982 the United States Supreme Court turned down his appeal. However, Mr. McDonald has refused to quit because he believes he is innocent.

In fact, a federal court has granted him a new hearing based upon some DNA evidence that was discovered in 2006. This evidence involves DNA findings that were taken from the hair of one of the his daughter body that definitely does NOT match McDonald. There are other issues before the court that deal with federal prosecutor misconduct allegations.

The federal judge will decide whether this new evidence warrants giving McDonald a new trial.

If the judge decides to grant him a new trial it would be up to the prosecutors to attempt to retry him for the murders or to set McDonald free.

If anyone in you or a loved one has been convicted by a jury of a crime and you believe that their rights were violated you should contact Wallin and Klarich who can review the history of the case and help you determine if there may be legal grounds to attack the conviction. As the McDonald case proves, it is possible in some cases to challenge your conviction 32 years later.

We will keep you posted as to developments with this case to see if McDonald is granted a new trial based upon this new DNA evidence.

Call us at 888-280-6839.