Crystal Mulherin was 31 years old when she was accused of shooting a man outside a party store in Flint in September 2021. Police focused on Mulherin because she and the victim had been involved in a widely shared physical confrontation the previous day. During a recorded interrogation, Mulherin denied committing the shooting more than 20 times. However, investigators interpreted several confused and contradictory responses, including answers to hypothetical questions, as an admission. At trial, the victim identified Mulherin as the person who shot him. A jailhouse informant also claimed that Mulherin had confessed and bragged about using a .22-caliber pistol. The physical evidence did not support that account. Four shell casings recovered at the scene were .40 caliber, and a forensic examiner testified that they could not have been fired from the weapon described by the informant. DNA testing also excluded Mulherin as the source of saliva found on a cigarette discarded by the shooter immediately before the attack. Despite this evidence, Mulherin was convicted in July 2022 of assault with intent to commit murder and a firearm offense. She was sentenced to 17 to 30 years in prison. During her appeal, attorneys and the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office obtained additional DNA testing of the bicycle the shooter had ridden to the scene. The testing established that DNA on the bicycle matched the male DNA found on the cigarette. Neither sample belonged to Mulherin. The review also uncovered evidence that undermined the jailhouse informant’s testimony. Another incarcerated woman reported that the informant had discussed falsely claiming that Mulherin confessed in hopes of obtaining her own release. In January 2024, prosecutors and Mulherin’s appellate attorneys jointly requested that her convictions be vacated. The charges were dismissed after DNA evidence identified another person as the source of the biological evidence connected to the shooting. (National Registry of Exonerations)