DNA tests vindicate Ohio man convicted of rape

CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio man tasted freedom for the first time in nearly 30 years Tuesday after DNA evidence showed he did not rape an 11-year-old girl and a judge vacated his conviction.

"It finally happened, I've been waiting," Raymond Towler, 52, said as he hugged sobbing family members in the courtroom.

He walked from the courthouse, arms around his family members, amid the smell of freshly cut grass, blooming trees and a brisk wind off Lake Erie. Asked how he would adjust, Towler responded: "Just take a deep breath and just enjoy life right now."

He deflected a question about demanding an apology and said he understood justice can take time.

"I think it was just a process, you know, the DNA," he said. "It just took a couple of years to get to it. We finally got to it and the job was done."

In a brief, emotionally charged session, Judge Eileen Gallagher of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court recapped the case, discussed the recently processed DNA evidence and threw out his conviction. She also told him that he can sue over his ordeal.