DNA clears Conn. man jailed for 20 years for killing pregnant girlfriend

A Connecticut judge dropped murder charges Thursday against a New Britain man who served 20 years in prison after being convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend.

Miguel Roman’s family and friends cheered Thursday as Judge David Gold dismissed the charges. Roman had been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 1988 murder of his girlfriend, 17-year-old Carmen Lopez, but recent DNA tests showed could not have been the killer.

“I’m glad to have everything finished,” Roman said after the hearing. “I’ve got my freedom, and that’s it.”

Roman was convicted of killing Lopez based on circumstantial evidence and testimony from friends and family of the victim, and despite testimony from an FBI investigator about tests that eliminated him as a suspect.

New Haven attorney Rosemarie Paine brought Roman’s case to the attention of the Connecticut Innocence Project, which also helped to free James Calvin Tillman in 2006 after he was imprisoned for a rape he did not commit.

The Innocence Project, which is looking at more than 100 convictions in Connecticut, has access to more sophisticated DNA testing than was available in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“I am an optimist. I think this ultimately says something good (about the judicial system),” said Karen Goodrow, an attorney and director of the project.

Tillman was awarded $5 million for his wrongful conviction.