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Indiana County man wrongfully jailed for 34 years, cleared
September 15, 2015 12:14 AM
Lewis "Jim" Fogle holds his granddaughter Olivia Fogle, 21 months,
outside the Indiana County Courthouse after District Attorney Patrick
Dougherty dismissed an indictment against Mr. Fogle Monday.
By Michael A. Fuoco / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
INDIANA, Pa. — Lewis Fogle can focus on learning how the world has changed in the 34 years since he was imprisoned now that a judge ruled Monday he never can be tried again in the July 1976 murder he was convicted of committing despite his protestations of innocence.
But in addition to getting acquainted with his grandchildren, painting pictures or trying to figure out how to use a cell phone, Mr. Fogle, 63, vowed to uncover the truth of who did rape and fatally shoot Deann “Kathy” Long, 15, of Cherry Tree, Indiana County, and left her in a rural area near her home. He said he had spoken to some of Kathy’s relatives earlier in the day and told them “I wish it would never have taken place in the first place. They know I'm innocent, they even told me so. I told them I would help bring the truth out.”
Soft-spoken and dressed mostly in black, including a wide-brimmed hat, Mr. Fogle was calm as he stood with his wife, Deb, and his attorneys in front of the Indiana County Courthouse following Monday’s brief hearing.
He has been free since Senior Judge David Grine of Centre County vacated his conviction on a second-degree murder charge — and an accompanying life sentence — at an Aug. 13 hearing.
At that hearing, Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty joined in a motion to vacate filed by Mr. Fogle’s attorneys from the New York-based Innocence Project and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The Innocence Project argued, and Mr. Dougherty agreed, that DNA testing of newly found evidence excluded Mr. Fogle as the source of semen found on Kathy’s body.
Mr. Dougherty requested then and was granted a month to determine if there was enough evidence to retry Mr. Fogle on the second-degree murder charge. On Monday, he told Judge Grine that despite a re-examinaation of case evidence and re-interviewing of witnesses, the case against Mr. Fogle was without “prosecutorial merit” and should be dismissed.
Judge Grine agreed and went a step further. He granted a motion filed by Mr. Fogle’s attorneys to dismiss the case “with prejudice.” That means Mr. Fogle can never be tried again in the slaying.
After the hearing, Mr. Dougherty said his office is “treating this as an open homicide again. We are looking to explore any and all leads to try to solve this matter and bring the appropriate people to justice.”
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/e...-he-won-t-be-tried-again/stories/201509140165
Lewis "Jim" Fogle (in hat) exits the Indiana County Courthouse with, David Loftis, managing attorney for the Innocence Project (bottom), Karen Thompson, Staff Attorney for the Innocence Project (right), his wife Deb Fogle (in blue) after District Attorney Patrick Dougherty dismissed an indictment against Fogle Monday.
September 15, 2015 12:14 AM
Lewis "Jim" Fogle holds his granddaughter Olivia Fogle, 21 months,
outside the Indiana County Courthouse after District Attorney Patrick
Dougherty dismissed an indictment against Mr. Fogle Monday.
By Michael A. Fuoco / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
INDIANA, Pa. — Lewis Fogle can focus on learning how the world has changed in the 34 years since he was imprisoned now that a judge ruled Monday he never can be tried again in the July 1976 murder he was convicted of committing despite his protestations of innocence.
But in addition to getting acquainted with his grandchildren, painting pictures or trying to figure out how to use a cell phone, Mr. Fogle, 63, vowed to uncover the truth of who did rape and fatally shoot Deann “Kathy” Long, 15, of Cherry Tree, Indiana County, and left her in a rural area near her home. He said he had spoken to some of Kathy’s relatives earlier in the day and told them “I wish it would never have taken place in the first place. They know I'm innocent, they even told me so. I told them I would help bring the truth out.”
Soft-spoken and dressed mostly in black, including a wide-brimmed hat, Mr. Fogle was calm as he stood with his wife, Deb, and his attorneys in front of the Indiana County Courthouse following Monday’s brief hearing.
He has been free since Senior Judge David Grine of Centre County vacated his conviction on a second-degree murder charge — and an accompanying life sentence — at an Aug. 13 hearing.
At that hearing, Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty joined in a motion to vacate filed by Mr. Fogle’s attorneys from the New York-based Innocence Project and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The Innocence Project argued, and Mr. Dougherty agreed, that DNA testing of newly found evidence excluded Mr. Fogle as the source of semen found on Kathy’s body.
Mr. Dougherty requested then and was granted a month to determine if there was enough evidence to retry Mr. Fogle on the second-degree murder charge. On Monday, he told Judge Grine that despite a re-examinaation of case evidence and re-interviewing of witnesses, the case against Mr. Fogle was without “prosecutorial merit” and should be dismissed.
Judge Grine agreed and went a step further. He granted a motion filed by Mr. Fogle’s attorneys to dismiss the case “with prejudice.” That means Mr. Fogle can never be tried again in the slaying.
After the hearing, Mr. Dougherty said his office is “treating this as an open homicide again. We are looking to explore any and all leads to try to solve this matter and bring the appropriate people to justice.”
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/e...-he-won-t-be-tried-again/stories/201509140165
Lewis "Jim" Fogle (in hat) exits the Indiana County Courthouse with, David Loftis, managing attorney for the Innocence Project (bottom), Karen Thompson, Staff Attorney for the Innocence Project (right), his wife Deb Fogle (in blue) after District Attorney Patrick Dougherty dismissed an indictment against Fogle Monday.
