Glendale "Glen" Woodall was a victim of a miscarriage of justice in West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

. He was an itinerant grave digger and handyman

Handyman

A handyman is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, both interior and exterior, and are sometimes described as "odd jobs", "fix-up tasks", and include light plumbing jobs such as fixing a leaky toilet...

, who was sent to prison for a crime that DNA evidence has subsequently cleared him of.

Samples of his DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 were sent to the state crime lab and were matched by Trooper

Trooper (rank)

Trooper from the French "troupier" is the equivalent rank to private in a regiment with a cavalry tradition in the British Army and many other Commonwealth armies, including those of Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Today, most cavalry units operate in the armoured role, equipped...

 Fred Zain

Fred Zain

Fred Zain was a disgraced forensic lab technician in West Virginia and Bexar County, Texas, USA.He was employed as a trooper in the West Virginia crime lab based on a false resume...

. Woodall was sentenced to 355 years in prison. In 1988 Woodall was found to be innocent and to have been convicted on false evidence. Zain was subsequently found to have participated in the "framing" of hundreds of persons, and the West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

  Supreme Court

Supreme court

A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...

 ordered new trials.

Woodall then settled with the state, receiving the maximum damages allowed by law, and moved to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.