Biurny Peguero, 27, was sentenced to three years after lying about a gang rape in 2005. She admitted to making up the story to put construction worker William McCaffrey in prison for nearly four years. The conviction was overturned in December based on new DNA evidence.

"I question myself every day as to how I could have done this," Peguero told a Manhattan state court judge.

Peguero had originally claimed that McCaffrey and three of his friends raped her at knife point, after luring her into their car. She met the men at a nightclub in New York.

McCaffrey was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the incident. Peguero came to believe her lie, because she was too drunk to remember what happened that night, according to a psychiatrist who examined her at her lawyer's request. Prosecutors argued that she lied to get revenge on McCaffrey or to make her friends feel sorry for her.

Peguero's defense attorney, Paul F. Callan, attempted to argue that Peguero came forward to exonerate McCaffrey, approaching a priest and then authorities to recant. At the same time, DNA evidence showed that wounds on her arm were from friends and not McCaffrey.

"Although we are upset about her lies that caused, in part, his conviction, we do applaud her courage in coming forward," said McCaffrey's attorney, Glenn A. Garber.

This case makes me sad and reminds me of when my best friend was falsely accused of rape in college. Evidence later showed that he was victimized by a woman who systematically accused co-workers of rape in order to file civil suits against the employer for whom they both worked at the time. This ruined him financially, forced him to drop out of school and destroyed his reputation.

Given the seriousness of rape allegations and the devastation that such a charge can cause to a person's life, it would seem logical that DNA evidence would be used from the very beginning. The idea that this man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for something he didn't do reminds us of the faulty logic that may be used to prosecute some rape cases. If the crime can be unproven at a later date, then it might behoove us to go back to figure out how such a conviction could have been made on fabricated evidence. The preservation of human liberty should be worth any expense.

Williams McCaffrey is not the only person in prison for something he did not do. We must use whatever methods in our power to find everyone who has been falsely accused. This should never have happened.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.