Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

DALLAS (AP) ― A man convicted of rape 25 years ago walked out of a courtroom a free man Tuesday after a judge ruled he likely wouldn't have been found guilty if DNA testing had been available.

Specialized DNA testing performed this year proved Larry Fuller, 57, was not the assailant who raped a Dallas woman in her home. By then, Fuller had spent about two decades in prison for the crime.

"My faith was tested and I won," he said, trembling slightly as he left the courthouse carrying two worn paperback Bibles.

Moments earlier, state District Judge Lana McDaniel issued the ruling clearing Fuller and his supporters broke out in applause. McDaniel apologized to Fuller, telling him she felt sick to her stomach over all the time he spent in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

"I just pray ... I do hope that God blesses your life," McDaniel said.

Assistant District Attorney John Rolater, who was not involved in the original case, also apologized to Fuller in court on behalf of the prosecutors' office.

"Thank you," Fuller responded. "Apology accepted."

Minutes later, Fuller walked out of the courtroom with his brother, sister-in-law, and his attorneys in tow.

In 1981, Fuller was sentenced to 50 years after jurors convicted him of aggravated rape, finding that he broke into a 37-year-old woman's apartment and raped her, using a butcher knife to cut the victim's thumb, neck and back as she struggled.

The victim looked at two photo lineups, both of which included Fuller. She picked him in the second one, even though Fuller was bearded in the picture and she said her attacker had no facial hair.

At the time Fuller was a 32-year-old Vietnam veteran who had received the Air Medal for taking care of his crew. He was pursing a career in art and had worked as a driver and warehouse employee.

Although Fuller had no convictions for sexual assault, he had pleaded guilty to robbing a convenience store in 1975 and been sentenced to three years in prison. Fuller served 18 years on the rape conviction. He was released in 1999 but sent back last year for a parole violation.

All the while, Fuller professed his innocence in the rape case and tried to prove it through DNA. This year, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office agreed to allow the additional testing.

Fuller's subsequent exoneration makes him the 10th Dallas County man in five years cleared by DNA testing. More than 20 men have been exonerated in Texas by DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project.

Co-director Barry Scheck said the figures point to the need for Texas to set up a panel that examine why so many convictions have been overturned by DNA evidence.

However, Rolater said the figures for Dallas County aren't abnormal since the District Attorney's Office prosecutes some 20,000 felony cases each year.

Prosecutors haven't seen systemic problems, but their practices have evolved over the years. The office doesn't oppose DNA testing in as many cases as before. It currently has eight cases undergoing post conviction DNA testing, Rolater said.

"It is hard to go back and change the way cases were investigated and prosecuted," he said

Nationwide, 185 people have been cleared through DNA after their convictions, according to the Innocence Project.

However, 90 percent of cases have no DNA evidence to test. In most cases, testimony from mistaken eyewitness identification led to the wrongful conviction, the group said.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)