DNA evidence discovered after a trial that resulted in Albert “Ian” Schweitzer’s rape conviction resulted in the 51-year-old man being released from prison this week, according to documents shared by the Innocence Project.
“After 25 years of incarceration for a crime Mr. Schweitzer did not commit, he is eager to have his name cleared and return home to his family,” said Susan Friedman, one of Ian’s Innocence Project attorneys.
When asked by KHON 2 in Hawaii, asked if he ever lost hope, Schweitzer said “you know, no I didn’t.”
“I gave it to the Lord you know” he added. “He answered my prayers.”
Schweitzer was convicted for the 1991 rape and murder of Dana Ireland. According to the Innocence Project, Ireland was struck by a vehicle on Kapoho Kai Drive on Hawaii Island while cycling home on Dec. 24, 1991 and sustained life-threatening injuries. She had been sexually assaulted and left on a fishing trail in the Wa‘a Wa‘a subdivision.
“Ms. Ireland died from severe blood loss at the hospital the following day,” the Innocence Project said.
It also said that public pressure to solve the case mounted as time passed. By April 1994, “a petition was started requesting that the Hawaii attorney general appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Ms.
Ireland’s murder,” said the organization.
“The state built its case on false informant testimony and misapplied forensic evidence,” said Friedman of Schweitzer’s conviction, as well as those of his younger brother Shawn Schweitzer, and Frank Pauline, Jr., who is now deceased. “We are grateful to the Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney for their collaboration during this re-investigation.”
A Jimmy’Z t-shirt soaked in Ireland’s blood found near her body was a key piece of evidence, the Innocent Project said. While the prosecution presented witnesses who claimed the shirt belonged to Pauline, he denied it and pointed out that the shirt did not fit.
Since Ian Schweitzer’s conviction, “DNA testing excluded Mr. Pauline and the Schweitzer brothers from DNA recovered from the t-shirt,” said the project. “New DNA results of an armpit cutting and semen stain prove that the “habitual wearer” of the shirt was the same unknown person — “Unknown Male #1” — whose DNA was recovered from items in Ms. Ireland’s rape kit that were tested before Ian’s trial.”
Judge Peter K. Kubota dismissed Schweitzer’s conviction.
Per court documents, a joint re-investigation to identify “Unknown Male # 1” remains active and will continue.
“Injustice is at the core of this case – historically one of the most high-profile cases Hawaii has ever seen. The growing public pressure to hold someone accountable for this horrific crime – combined with the incessant media attention – outweighed the tainted false testimony used to wrongly convict the Schweitzer brothers and Mr. Pauline, as well as the clear DNA evidence that proved their innocence,” said Ken Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project.
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