A Calhoun County woman will remain free on bond while lawyers try to persuade the Michigan Supreme Court to get involved in a sex-abuse conviction that fell apart because of new evidence, the Associated Press reports.
Lorinda Swain is being helped by the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan law school.
A judge in Battle Creek erased Swain's 2002 conviction and granted a new trial in a case involving her adopted son. But the state appeals court reversed the decision two weeks ago.
A judge today said Swain can remain free while she appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court. The prosecutor wanted her in jail.
In 2002, Swain was convicted of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
As AnnArbor.com reported in September, after Swain's then-13 year old adoptive son was accused of sexually abusing a young cousin, the boy said he'd been abused as a youth by Swain. Swain was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.
The Innocence Clinic's students were able to track down witnesses who refuted the boy's statements. In November 2007, the boy, now an adult, recanted his testimony in a notarized statement.
A question for the Supreme Court is whether Swain has run out of appeals.
The U-M Innocence Clinic was founded in January 2009.
- Reporting by the Associated Press and AnnArbor.com.
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