Michigan man wins unlikely appeal over robbery linked to his DNA on bottle

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan prisoner convinced a judge to throw out his robbery conviction, overcoming obstacles by acting as his own attorney in an appeal of a case that hinged solely on the discovery of his DNA on a soda bottle at a beauty salon.

Gregory Tucker, 65, argued that DNA alone was not enough to convict him of the 2016 robbery near Detroit, citing U.S. Supreme Court rulings on evidence.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson agreed that the case against Tucker was weak.

“Any inference that (Tucker) must have deposited his DNA on the bottle during the robbery was pure speculation unsupported by any positive evidence in the record,” Lawson wrote in the Aug. 1 ruling.

Anne Yantus, an attorney who spent 30 years in the State Appellate Defender’s Office and who is not connected to the case, said what Tucker accomplished was no small feat.

“I’m impressed that this is a man who had enough confidence in himself and his legal abilities to represent himself with a habeas corpus claim,” Yantus said, referring to habeas corpus, the Latin term for a last-ditch appeal that comes to federal court long after a conviction.

Petitioner attempts to argue that a guilty verdict violated several protections under federal law. It is extremely rare for him to succeed.

Tucker was accused of breaking into a beauty salon in Ferndale in 2016. Supplies worth $10,000 were stolen, along with a television, a computer and a wall clock.

Tucker was charged after his DNA was found on a Coca-Cola bottle at the crime scene. Authorities were unable to find anyone else’s DNA on the bottle.

From prison, Tucker told The Associated Press he was “overwhelmed” by Lawson’s ruling. He said he has no idea why a bottle with his DNA on it ended up there.

“A bottle of soda has monetary value,” Tucker said, referring to Michigan’s 10-cent deposit law. “You can leave a bottle on the east side and it can end up on the west side that same day.”

His victory has not meant he has been released. Tucker is still serving time for another conviction and cannot be released from prison until the parole board agrees to release him.

Meanwhile, prosecutors aren’t giving up. The Michigan attorney general’s office said it plans to appeal the decision that overturned Tucker’s robbery conviction.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the robbery occurred in 2016, not 2018.

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