Patrick Pursley gets certificate of innocence after wrongful conviction
ROCKFORD — Two years after he was acquitted of a first-degree murder charge, former Rockford resident Patrick Pursley is celebrating another legal victory. Judge Joseph McGraw granted Pursley’s petition for a certificate of innocence on Friday in the 1993 shooting death of Andy Ascher. Pursley was convicted of Ascher’s murder in 1994 and spent 23 years of a life sentence in prison before he was granted a new trial after ballistics tests showed the Taurus 9 mm handgun used to convict him was not the murder weapon. “I am convinced by the preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Pursley ...
Source: rrstar.com