DNA Evidence May Clear Man of Raping Girl, 8
From Times Wire Reports
A man who has spent the last 15 years in prison should be freed because DNA evidence shows he did not rape an 8-year-old girl, state Atty. Gen. Mike McGrath said in Billings.
McGrath joined Yellowstone County Atty. Dennis Paxinos in asking a District Court judge to vacate the convictions against Jimmy Ray Bromgard, 33. McGrath said it is the first case in Montana in which DNA evidence showed a person convicted of a crime was innocent. A jury convicted Jimmy Ray Bromgard in 1987 of three counts of raping the Billings girl, who picked him out of a police lineup. He was convicted largely on her testimony, McGrath said. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
A hearing on the request is scheduled for Oct. 1.