MotherJones - Houston's Crime Lab Debacle

Josiah Sutton fell victim to what might be the worst police crime lab in the nation.

Wrongfully convicted four years ago for rape, Sutton gained his freedom yesterday after being exonerated by DNA retesting, the Houston Chronicle's Roma Khanna and Steve McVicker report. Sutton's release, however, may be just the first in a long line of reversals, as the investigation grows into the now-disgraced Houston police lab that bungled his case.

The revelations cast doubt on about 524 convictions -- all in a county that has executed more people than any other in the nation, and more than any other state apart from Virginia, Burkeman writes.