All homicide trials have the same "legal burden of proof." This is the obligation resting on the prosecution in a criminal trial to prove the defendant's guilt. "Beyond a reasonable doubt" is the highest standard of proof in the American legal system. If the prosecution cannot show a person's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, then the person cannot be found guilty of that crime. In a recent reexamination of a murder trial, evidence turned up that led the prosecution to believe that they could no longer prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

David Ranta spent the last 23 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit. Prosecutors conceded that the evidence the state had against him had “degraded” to the point where they could not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Ranta is now a free man.

In 1991, Ranta was convicted for the high-profile shooting death of a prominent ultra-Orthodox leader, Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger. The Brooklyn district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit decided to take another look at the case. After reexamining the evidence, the CIU disclosed that a man who once identified Ranta as the killer now felt “discomfort” about his testimony.  In addition to this, others admitted to fabricating statements to place the blame on Ranta.

District Attorney Charles Hynes joined in the defense’s motion to vacate the conviction and throw out the indictment. Acting Supreme Court Justice Miriam Cyrulnik granted the motion, and Ranta was free to leave.