Michael O’Laughlin
10 years
Michael O’Laughlin was convicted in 2001 of severely beating a woman almost to death. He was given a 35- year minimum sentence. O’Laughlin was convicted largely on circumstantial evidence. He lived a few doors down from the victim. Also, the police found a baseball bat with his name carved into it. However, it was never proved that the baseball bat was even used in the beating. There was no DNA or physical evidence linking O’Laughlin to the crime. The victim could not identify her attacker and remembered nothing about the crime. In 2005, the Massachusetts Appeals court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to establish guilt, and overturned O’Laughlin’s conviction. Unfortunately, this decision was overturned on appeal. It wasn’t until 2009 that O’Laughlin won his appeal, and he walked out of prison in January 2010 having served almost ten years in prison.
