More precise DNA testing frees man after 18 years in prison on rape charge

The man hasn't said whether he'll sue for compensation.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A man who spent 18 years in prison on a rape charge walked out of court Tuesday a free man, exonerated by DNA evidence.
James Calvin Tillman, 44, had been imprisoned since his arrest in 1988. He was sentenced a year later to 45 years in prison.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Miano granted Tillman's request last month for a new trial and released him on his own recognizance. On Tuesday, Miano dropped all charges and wished him "health and happiness into the future."
With his mother and brother by his side, a smiling Tillman talked to reporters outside the courthouse. He said he is not angry or bitter.
Neither Tillman nor his attorneys would say whether he plans to sue the state or seek other compensation. Connecticut does not have a compensation policy for the wrongly convicted.
Tillman said he believes God will now point him in the right direction.
"It's all up to Jesus now," he said. "The truth will set you free, and I'm free."
Recent DNA tests proved that evidence on the victim's clothing from the 1988 crime did not match Tillman's genetic profile, contradicting circumstantial evidence from his trial.
Original charges
Tillman was 26 when he was charged with abducting a woman as she got into her car near a Hartford restaurant, then beating and raping her at a housing project.
The woman picked out Tillman from a series of photos, and friends contradicted his alibi. Forensic tests at the time also showed similarities between Tillman's DNA and that of the attacker.
Tillman met this year with attorneys from the Connecticut Innocence Project, which arranged to have more sophisticated DNA tests done.
Those tests categorically ruled out Tillman and also did not match any of the thousands of DNA profiles in Connecticut's database or the millions in a federal database.
The accuser in the 1988 rape has been updated on the case, Assistant State's Attorney Edward Narus said. Original evidence will be sent back to the Hartford Police Department, which will again investigate.
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