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Conviction reversed, and 20-year inmate freed
from The Associated Press
appeared in The Kansas City Star, April 05, 2004
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A man whose child molestation conviction was overturned after he had served 20 years in prison was released from custody Tuesday, his 61st birthday.
"Oh, my. I don't know. This is wonderful. It's just amazing," John Stoll said after taking a bow and thanking his lawyers. His first wish was for a steak dinner.
"For 20 years, I've had to go where others wanted me to go."
Stoll walked free hours after prosecutors told Judge Lee P. Felice they would not seek to retry him, now that most of his alleged victims had recanted. Felice dismissed the 17 counts of child molestation that he was convicted of in 1985.
"It's a rebirth day," said Stoll's attorney, Linda Starr, legal director of the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University.
Stoll's decades-old conviction was reversed Friday in Kern County Superior Court after a nearly five-month hearing. Attorneys for two Innocence Project chapters in Califronia had worked for his freedom, saying authorities has coerced false testimony from the victims, who were from 6 to 8 years old at the time.
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