Guilty plea

John Smith was arrested and charged with the crime of first degree murder. The evidence against him was strong and his lawyer recommended that he plead guilty in return for replacing the death sentence with life in prison. He was convicted and sent to prison. Later DNA evidence was presented which proved his innocence. The District Attorney then dropped the charges and set Smith free. A local judge in response to the victims friends and relatives held up the dismissal to allow these friends to present evidence to the court which they felt would contradict the DNA. This process went on for several months while Smith sat in limbo never knowing from day to day his fate. The main case presented by the victims friends was that he would not have pleaded guilty if he were innocent.