A North Carolina special state innocence commission recommended that a man convicted of murdering a prostitute be set free.A three judge panel found by "clear and convincing evidence" that Gregory F.Taylor was innocent and had been convicted with questionable evidence and untrustworthy testimony.Mr.Taylor is free today.

North Carolina is the only state that has established an Innocence Inquiry Commission.A eight member panel reviews claims of innocence by inmates.After a review of the claim, the case may be sent to a three judge panel if the first panel finds the claim has merit.

"North Carolina’s commission is an important model for the adjudication of innocence claims"’ said Barry Scheck of the New York Innocence Project.The Innocence Project uses DNA evidence to overturn wrongful convictions.However, over 90% of criminal cases  does not involve DNA evidence reports Robbie Brown of the New York Times.

Tennessee and most other states have no mechanism in place to review claims such as the case of Mr.Taylor .The Taylor case is important in that the procedure used in North Carolina should be implemented in Tennessee and across the nation.North Carolina’s procedure work.The Tennessee State Legislature needs to introduce a bill to adopt North Carolina’s model to act as an additional safeguard to prevent wrongful convictions.

Mr.Taylor spent 6149 days in prison before he was released.The evidence was based on stains in his truck that weren’t blood stains and witnesses who testified to facts that could not have happened.

The Tennessee State Legislators who propose some idiotic bills to get on the tough on crime bandwagon should consider North Carolina’s system.Tennessee has procedural bars in place that prohibits litigation on innocence issues.