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Charges to be dropped in Lorinda Swain case

Posted at 10:26 AM, May 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-19 22:17:49-04

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP/WXMI) — A Battle Creek-area prosecutor is dropping charges after the Michigan Supreme Court said a woman convicted of sexual abuse is entitled to a new trial.

Lorinda Swain, who served nearly eight years in prison, says the results are "unbelievable."

Calhoun County prosecutor David Gilbert says the investigator has died and the alleged victim has recanted the allegations from the 1990s.

Swain was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. But her conviction was set aside by a judge after Swain claimed a former boyfriend who didn't appear at trial would have given favorable testimony. After a long series of appeals, the Supreme Court agreed Wednesday that she deserved a new trial.

The 55-year-old Swain has been free on bond since 2010.

Swain is set to be at the Calhoun County courthouse Thursday to have her monitoring tether removed.  We'll have that on later editions of FOX 17 News.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.