A New Orleans man who served nearly three decades in prison for a rape he didn’t commit became a free man Monday after the district attorney’s office moved to vacate the case.
Patrick Brown was convicted in 1994 of raping his 6-year-old step-daughter. Since 2002, the victim, who did not testify at Brown’s trial, repeatedly asked for the case to be reviewed, telling authorities that Brown was not her attacker.
The victim “repeatedly asked previous administrations to review this case, correct the injustice, and rightfully prosecute the actual perpetrator; no investigations into her case were ever done until [District Attorney Jason] Williams took office and launched the Civil Rights Division, a press release from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office stated.
Patrick Brown was convicted in 1994 of raping his 6-year-old stepdaughter, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office in Louisiana said. https://t.co/ueTqAmYQq5
— WJZ | CBS Baltimore (@wjz) May 9, 2023
“It is incredibly disheartening to know that this woman was dismissed and ignored, no matter how inconvenient her truth, when all she wanted was the real offender to be held responsible,” Williams stated in the release. “When someone is wrongfully convicted, not only is it an injustice for the person who has years of their life stolen, but it is an injustice for the victim and the people of New Orleans because the real perpetrator is left to harm others. (RELATED: ‘I Cannot Wait To Hug My Mother’: Wrongfully Convicted Man Free After Serving 34 Years Of 400-Year Sentence)
Civil Rights Division Chief Emily Maw reflected on the multiple “injustices” of the situation, emphasizing that both the victim and Brown suffered unjustly for nearly 30 years while the person responsible was allowed to go free. “This is a very sad case, but we are hopeful that this will bring some closure to the victim and that she, and Mr. Brown, can move forward in healing,” Maw stated in the release.