Cody Marble spent nearly half his life in the criminal justice system for a crime he did not commit.Â
At 17, he was arrested and placed in the Missoula County Juvenile Detention Center for marijuana possession. After spending five months in the center completing a youth drug treatment program, Marble was released. Four days later, he was arrested and charged with the rape of a 13-year-old inmate.
But the rape never happened. False testimonies and ineffective assistance of counsel led to his wrongful incarceration. After his conviction in 2002 and probationary release in 2005, Marbleâs accuser recanted his story multiple times and numerous guards, inmates and counselors insisted that Marble was innocent.Â