Thanks to Howard Bashman at How Appealing for spotting a story about Chris Ochoa in today's Christian Science Monitor. Ochoa was exonerated in 2001 of an Austin murder. He recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Law, whose Innocence Project helped win his freedom.
The report is, "Backstory: From prison bars to bar exam." LINK
Ochoa is short and quiet and blends easily among the students and soccer moms of this university town. He is shy by nature, a trait that may have helped him survive the 12 years he spent in the Texas prison system for a crime he didn't commit. He kept his head down.
Now, however, Ochoa is holding his head high. He is one of 180 people in the US to be exonerated by DNA evidence - and one of the few to thrive: Last month he became only the second exoneree in US history to graduate from law school. As he now heads out to look for a job in a field - criminal justice - that tragically let him down, Ochoa isn't sure what kind of law he might practice. But he does know some of the values he'll bring to the profession.
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