Ohio Innocence Project Frees Another Man

It was a happy Mother's Day for a Canton, Ohio woman Sunday.

Paula Bennett welcomed her 29-year-old son Chris Bennett home from prison after the Ohio Innocence Project helped him overturn what they call a wrongful conviction.

In May of 2001 Bennett and his friend Ronald Young were drinking and driving in a van.

They crashed in wet conditions and Young died.

A witness put him near the driver's seat and prosecutors believed Bennett had been driving. They charged him with aggravated vehicular homicide.

Bennett had no memory of what happened and pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated vehicular manslaughter.

In the months after the crash his memory came back and says he realized he hadn't been driving, but he had already pled guilty.

The Ohio Innocence Project led by University of Cincinnati law students took up his case and DNA evidence was taken from the windshield revealed he had been in the passenger seat.

The blood and hair found on the passenger side belonged to Bennett, not Young.

"I knew I was innocent but just nobody would believe me and nobody really cared," said Bennett.

Despite the new DNA evidence, the prosecutor in the case actually wanted to retry the case.

The appellate court allowed him to reverse his guilty plea.

But rather than go through another lengthy process and risk losing, Bennett pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and is now free with time served.

"I thought he was getting out Tuesday and then we got a call that he'd be out today," said Bennett's mother. "I'm like, well, that's a great gift -- the best gift I could have got."

The gift Paula Bennett says is peace of mind.