Frank Sterling was convicted of the 1988 murder of an elderly woman. DNA testing eventually implicated another person - Mark Christie who was in jail serving a life sentence for murdering a 4 year old child.

The Innocence Project contacted John E. Reid and Associates and asked us if we could provide an investigator who could interview and interrogate Mark Christie about the 1988 murder. We sent one of our staff investigators and seminar instructor, Richard Byington, to meet with the Innocence Project and then eventually with Mark Christie. Rich obtained a full corroborated confession from Mark Christie. Several days later Rich went back up to Rochester with the DA's chief investigator to re-interview Christie who again gave a full detailed confession. The decision was then made to let Sterling out of jail. He was released on April 28, 2010.