The Denver district attorney’s office said Thursday a mistake akin to “a clerical error” led to sexual assault charges being filed against Shawnnon Hale.
“The district attorney wants to make clear that this wasn’t a DNA error. There’s nothing wrong with the database,” spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said. “The integrity still stands. The science behind the DNA evidence still stands. For lack of a better term, this was the result of a clerical error.”
Hale, 24, was released from the Denver Detention Center on Wednesday, two months after his arrest Dec. 5 in connection to the sexual assault of a woman in her apartment early July 5.
Although he never denied being in the apartment, saying he went there after partying with a group of friends, Hale maintained his innocence in the attack. However, Hale said he was told by Denver police that DNA evidence linked him to the assault.
The mistake occurred when a sample of Hale’s DNA was labeled incorrectly as being part of a rape kit that was taken during the investigation.
However, when he was arrested in December, what’s called a confirmation DNA sample was taken. That sample did not match the DNA from the rape kit.
“That result was initially available on Feb. 3, and we received notice of the mistake on the 4th,” Kimbrough said. “Afterward, we immediately had him released. … As far as we know, this was just a one-time occurrence that was thankfully identified so that an innocent man could go free.”
Hale said Wednesday night he plans to sue.
