Judge: Dead cop withheld Swain evidence

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) - A Calhoun County judge has again ruled in favor of a woman claiming she's innocent despite a 2002 conviction for allegedly sexually assaulting her son.

Judge Conrad Sindt ruled Lorinda Swain should get a new trial in an opinion released Tuesday.  

Sindt said Calhoun County Detective Guy Picketts withheld evidence from the defense that would likely have changed the original verdict.

Since that evidence was withheld from the defense, Sindt said, Swain is entitled to a new trial.  The judge also granted a new trial using a state and federal law giving judges the power to grant new trials "... when it appears to the court that justice has not been done."

"This court finds the interests of justice require a new trial," Sindt said in his ruling.

Swain tells 24 Hour News 8 she is encouraged by the decision.

She says the constant appeals have made it impossible to fully celebrate her freedom and release, and she hopes the Calhoun county prosecutor will finally let the case go.

Prosecutors have fought the efforts to overturn the conviction against Swain since the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic picked up her case and started fighting for her release

Judge Sindt has ruled in favor of Swain since he overturned her conviction in 2009.

Inside woodtv.com:

The Swain Ruling of Aug. 21, 2012 (pdf)