Neil Miller was convicted in December 1990 of raping and robbing an Emerson College student in her Boylston Street apartment. Neil's conviction rested almost entirely on the eyewitness testimony of the victim. The victim misidentified Neil as the perpetrator from a mug shot, despite the victim's description about the perpetrator's facial features and hair, which did not match Neil. Neil was sentenced to 26-45 years in prison.

Neil's case was opened in 1998 by the Innocence Project at Cardozo and the post-conviction DNA test results definitively excluded Neil as the source of the semen found on the victim's body and bed. Neil served ten unjust years in prison before he was exonerated in 2000. He is the second person to be exonerated in Massachusetts through post-conviction DNA testing.

Like so many other exonerees, life after exoneration has been a challenge for Neil. He struggles with trying to find a job, rebuilding relationships with his family and his teenage daughter, and trying to establish his place in society. In an effort to help all those wrongfully convicted Neil has interned at the State House with Representative Jehlen (D-Somerville) and has actively assisted Representative Patricia Jehlen in her efforts to pass a post-exoneration compensation bill in Massachusetts. He also speaks at various colleges and helps raise awareness of this important issue of wrongfully convicted individuals and the need for post-conviction DNA testing.

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Last updated April 16, 2002