Finally, the testing and use of a polygraph examination of Fritz was inexcusable. It was based on the results of this test that the police ultimately decided to arrest Fritz and then they set about building their case. In reality, the results of the polygraph were not definitive and merely indicated that Fritz was being possibly evasive. Under normal circumstances, such results would have not motivated an arrest.
The failure of the prosecution to share vital Brady material with the defense and the trial court's failure to properly rule on the state's failure were a severe violation of the defendants' constitutional rights. The defense in both cases should have been granted, at a minimum, a request for a new trial and the prosecution should have been sanctioned for their failure to share the information with the defense. The forensic evidence as to the hair samples and the palm print should have likely been excluded and, as the trial proceeded, it was not only not excluded it formed a major portion of the state's case.
But for improvements...
Williamson would have undoubtedly been put to death and Fritz would have spent the remainder of his life in
prison. In the end the legal system worked as it was supposed to as both men were exonerated but it took considerable resources for the right result to be reached and two innocent men lost a significant portion of their lives to
incarceration. An interesting antidote to the entire case is the fact that Glen Gore's
DNA was identified as being inside the victim and, based at least partially on this evidence, Gore was eventually convicted of Carter's
rape and murder. He was initially sentenced to death for his
crime but the sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.
Criminal Procedure
