George DeJesus was 18 years old when he and his older brother, Melvin, were charged with the 1995 rape and murder of Margaret Midkiff in Pontiac. Investigators collected fingerprints, hair, blood, DNA, saliva, and other evidence from several suspects. The forensic testing identified Brandon Gohagen as the source of semen recovered from Midkiff, while excluding George and the other tested men. After his arrest, Gohagen admitted sexually assaulting Midkiff but accused the DeJesus brothers of participating in the attack and causing her death. He became the prosecution’s principal witness under an agreement that allowed him to plead guilty to reduced charges. His description of the crime conflicted with another account attributed to him, including whether Midkiff was already undressed, whether Gohagen possessed a gun, and when he left the house. No physical evidence connected George to the crime. Prosecutors instead cited testimony from two witnesses who claimed they saw scratches on him afterward, although they disagreed about where the scratches appeared. A defense witness testified that she was with George at a party that night and saw no injuries. The prosecution also showed jurors an unrelated photograph of George holding firearms, which an appellate court later determined was prejudicial but considered harmless. George and Melvin were convicted in December 1997 of first-degree murder and related offenses and sentenced to life in prison. Years later, an independent pathologist challenged the prosecution’s theory of a prolonged group attack, concluding that Midkiff’s fatal injury was more consistent with a single forceful stomp. The reinvestigation gained momentum after DNA connected Gohagen to another rape and murder. Investigators subsequently documented a pattern of sexual violence involving 12 women and found two additional witnesses who corroborated George’s alibi for the night Midkiff was killed. They also determined that a polygraph result previously used to support Gohagen’s credibility should have been considered inconclusive. In March 2022, the Cooley Law School Innocence Project, the Michigan Attorney General’s Conviction Integrity Unit, and attorneys representing both brothers jointly requested that their convictions be vacated. The court dismissed all charges, and George was released after spending more than 24 years wrongfully incarcerated. (National Registry of Exonerations