The wrong man ...

A Goldsboro man is out of prison, his innocence having been proved, But how many more have shared, or share, his fate?

One wonders if, during his 18 years in prison, Dwayne Allen Dail's claims of innocence were written off by jailers and fellow prisoners as just another case of a guilty man claiming he didn't do it. If so, Dail now has a few "I told you so's" to deliver. He was released from prison Tuesday, having been exonerated in a 1987 rape in Goldsboro of a 12-year-old girl. Dail was cleared by DNA evidence showing he was not the assailant. DNA found on a nightgown has been linked to someone already in prison, Dail's attorney said.

Dail had never confessed. He continued, throughout his time in jail, to proclaim his innocence. And he was fortunate to get the attention of the N.C. Center for Actual Innocence and its leader, attorney Christine Mumma. The center, a nonprofit that utilizes law students from throughout the state to look into cases, took on Dail's in 2001. Mumma kept up the fight, and now deserves recognition for one of a defense attorney's proudest accomplishments -- getting a wrongfully convicted person out of jail.

Dail was serving two life sentences plus 18 years for the rape charges. He was identified by the victim, and hair that was found at the scene was determined to be consistent with his.

DNA testing was not in common use then, and the science used to match hair samples and other biological evidence wasn't nearly as sophisticated as it is now. Mumma sought physical evidence that all authorities thought had been destroyed, but it happened that a police officer, who had died, had kept the evidence from all his cases. That evidence, and the DNA it contained, showed Dail was innocent.

Mumma will ask Governor Easley to issue a pardon to Dail, and will seek from the state the $20,000-a-year compensation for years in prison endured by those wrongfully convicted. Dail certainly is entitled to both. There should be no hesitation or delay.

A prosecutor, Branny Vickory, worked in the Wayne County district attorney's office when the case was prosecuted. He remembered that defense attorneys and prosecutors both were troubled by the case -- even though they had little choice in terms of prosecution, in that a victim had confirmed the identity of her attacker, convincingly it seemed, and there was physical evidence of sexual activity.

Vickory, now the D.A., is due credit for his candor and for quickly seeking to free Dail once he received the exculpatory DNA evidence. He is a role model for every district attorney in North Carolina when it comes to handling this type of situation.

This case underlines the importance of the Center for Actual Innocence, and the likely need to invest more in its good works. The center's grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is about to run out, although another will, one hopes, be forthcoming. The state could stand to invest more as well.

This is not about taking sides. It is about fairness in an overworked, underfunded and sometimes inconsistent judicial system. There likely are other similar cases out there -- cases in which people have been sent to prison for crimes they did not commit.