RENO, Nev. — A 64-year-old woman who spent more than 30 years in prison for a Nevada killing she says she didn’t commit was released on Thursday, three days after a judge granted her another trial in light of new DNA evidence.
Cathy Woods downed a cheeseburger at Archie’s, a 24-hour diner near the University of Nevada, Reno, in her first meal since she was freed.
Defense attorney Maizie Pusich said, “It would be more wonderful if the case was dismissed and she got to stay home forever.”
Woods was convicted of killing 19-year-old Michelle Mitchell, who was found dead in a garage on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1976.
While under psychiatric care at Louisiana State University Medical Center, Woods acknowledged killing Mitchell but later recanted. She was convicted of the murder in 1980, later won an appeal before the Nevada Supreme Court, and was convicted again in 1985.
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