Judge vacates man's rape conviction

April 23, 2007 (WLS) -- Jerry Miller is a very happy man. A judge cleared his conviction Monday on rape charges. Miller spent 25 years in prison for that crime.

DNA evidence proved that Miller did not commit the rape on the roof of a Chicago parking garage in 1981. Instead, that DNA evidence has now linked a man already in prison with the crime.

Miller is 48, which means that he has spent more than half his life behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. During his years in prison, he had some things going for him. He believed in himself. He had others who believed in him and, significantly, DNA evidence from his case was saved.

There weren't too many people happier Monday than Jerry Miller. After 25 years in prison for a kidnapping, rape and robbery that he did not commit, Jerry Miller is now free, his conviction removed from the record based on DNA testing that proves his innocence.

"On behalf of Dick Devine and the Cook County district attorney's office, I wish to express our deepest regret and wish him the best in his future life," said Bob Milan, first assistant Cook County state's attorney.

Miller says he never lost faith, nor hope, when he was in prison, and he chose to make himself better, not bitter.

"If I was bitter, you wouldn't see me like this. So, it was not part of my character," Miller said.

Miller was arrested 26 years ago based on a composite sketch, and he was convicted based on the recollections of two witnesses who misidentified him.

Fortunately for Miller, DNA from the case was preserved, and a further analysis of it now points to another man, Robert Weeks, as the man responsible for the 1981 rape. Weeks is currently in prison, and has done time since the early 80s for sexual assault, burglary, and aggravated battery of a police officer.

"The great tragedy of this is, if we were able to get this earlier across the country, who knows, maybe Mr. Weeks wouldn't have been out on the street with the opportunity to commit crimes," said Barry Scheck, Innocence Project.

Jerry Miller is the 200th person nationally to be exonerated because of post conviction DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project. Gary Dotson, also falsely accused of rape, was the first.

"You just have to persevere. It's just that simple," Miller said.

Even though he has been out of prison for a year, Miller has still had to wear an electronic bracelet, and register as a sex offender, which kept him away from his nieces and nephews.

Monday afternoon that all ended. The bracelet was removed and Jerry Miller walks into a new life.

"Now he's free. Like a bird," said Daren Miller, brother.

Miller is working two jobs -- driving a bus for the disabled, and working as a cook at a south suburban barbeque restaurant. He couldn't count the number of times he had been hugged Monday, but says he is feeding off every one.

As for inmate Robert Weeks, police and prosecutors say he can't be charged with the 1981 rape because the statute of limitations has passed, but the DNA test results can be used against him when his parole hearing comes up.

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