No one was more surprised than Forest Shomberg when he was suddenly released from the Dane County Jail after serving six years for a wrongful conviction for sexual assault. The Wisconsin Innocence Project presented evidence including DNA results that the Madison man was the victim of mistaken identity, but Shomberg was told not to get his hopes up.
?The sad irony is that if you?re guilty of a crime, the state provides a lot more support upon release from prison than if you?re innocent,? said Keith Findley, co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. ?If you?re innocent, you?re just set free.? Findley is working with state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, on legislation that would provide ?meaningful relief to help innocent people get back on their feet.?