The discovery of a black Labrador dog named Lucy has led to the over-turning of a criminal conviction against a man in the United States.
The Oregon Innocence Project says an indictment against Josh Horner for the alleged sexual abuse of his daughter has been dismissed.
Mr Horner was sentenced to 50 years for the crime - a sentence that would have resulted in a life sentence for the 42-year-old.
In the trial, the complainant testified Mr Horner had threatened to shoot her animals if she went to the police about the alleged molestation - and said she saw him shoot her dog to make his point.
The Oregon Innocence Project explains: "As with many such cases, there was no DNA, no other forensics, and no eyewitnesses.
"However, our initial screening of Josh's case raised several red flags that caused us to begin what turned into a nine-month investigation."
It says one critical discrepancy was testimony that Mr Horner shot a black Labrador named Lucy in front of his daughter.
Mr Horner insisted Lucy was alive - a fact that the project was able to prove by locating the dog with her new owner.
Joint investigation
A second discrepancy, it says, was that the complaining witness filed a false report of abuse by Mr Horner's wife, which further damaged her credibility.
"We brought these facts to (Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel) and explained our concerns about the case and our belief that our client had been wrongfully convicted."
"Mr Hummel agreed to look into the case and we sent him a detailed account of our investigation and our review of the trial record.
"After the DA's internal review, we met with him twice. He agreed to conduct a joint investigation with OIP into the conviction and came to agree that we know for a fact that the evidence doesn’t support these accusations".
The District Attorney's Motion to Dismiss states: "Lucy the dog was not shot. Lucy the dog is alive and well. My investigator and the investigator from the Oregon Innocence Project tracked down Lucy the dog, verified her identity, spent much time with her, and took pictures of her."
The Associated Press says after Lucy was found, the complainant failed to attend a meeting in August to discuss her testimony.
