DETROIT– A Michigan inmate has convinced a judge to overturn his burglary conviction, overcoming adversity to act as his own attorney in an appeal of a case based solely on the discovery of his DNA on a soda bottle in a beauty salon.
Gregory Tucker, 65, argued that DNA alone was not enough to convict him in the 2016 burglary near Detroit, citing U.S. Supreme Court rulings on evidence.
U.S. District Judge David Lawson agreed that the case against Tucker was thin.
“Any conclusion that (Tucker) must have left his DNA on the bottle during the burglary was pure speculation and was not supported by any positive evidence in the record,” Lawson wrote in the Aug. 1 ruling.
Anne Yantus, an attorney who worked for 30 years at the State Appellate Defender Office and who is not involved in the case, says what Tucker has accomplished is not easy.
“I’m just impressed that this is a man who had enough confidence in himself and his legal skills to represent himself with a habeas corpus claim,” Yantus said, referring to habeas corpus, the Latin term for a final appeal that comes in federal court long after a conviction.
The petitioner attempts to argue that a guilty verdict violated several protections enshrined in federal law. Success is extremely rare.
Tucker was accused of breaking into a beauty salon in Ferndale in 2016, stealing $10,000 worth of items, along with a television, computer and wall clock.
Tucker was charged after his DNA was found on a Coca-Cola bottle at the crime scene. Authorities were unable to match any other DNA on the bottle to anyone else.
Tucker told The Associated Press from jail that he was “blown away” by Lawson’s statement. He said he has no idea why a bottle containing his DNA ended up there.
“A soda bottle has monetary value,” Tucker said, referring to Michigan’s 10-cent deposit law. “You can leave a bottle on the East Side and it can end up on the West Side the same day.”
His victory does not mean he is free. Tucker is still serving time for another conviction and is not allowed to leave prison until the parole board decides to release him.
Meanwhile, prosecutors aren’t giving up. The Michigan attorney general’s office said it plans to appeal the decision to overturn Tucker’s burglary conviction.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that the burglary occurred in 2016, not 2018.
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