Christopher Tapp appears in court Monday
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Update July 1, 2019 1:19 p.m.: Christopher Tapp appeared in Court on Monday for a status conference, where his defense team asked the court to exonerate his wrongful conviction of raping and killing Angie Dodge.
In a rare move, the defense counsel was flanked by the founder of The Innocence Project, who flew into Idaho Falls from New York to see the case to the final homestretch - clearing Tapp's name from the case.
The defense team said right now, they are just focused on exonerating Tapp, saying it's still too early to discuss the settlement process.
Right now, the prosecution is still working on collecting and presenting new evidence, corroborating Brian Dripps' confession to the brutal killing.
Tapp's attorneys and prosecutors will reconvene on July 17 to determine whether or not Tapp will be officially cleared from the case.
They say investigators are "working diligently to corroborate statements made by (Brian) Dripps." They said they have compared evidence and reports from the original crime scene to Dripps' confession.
"Evidence collected at the crime scene has been sent for additional or new testing and results are being expedited. Reviews of the original investigation are being conducted including every piece of evidence, photos, hundreds of reports, many hours of video footage, and all other information relating to this case," the statement said.
They said there are outstanding pieces in the investigation but are nearly complete. They don't want to rush the investigation because it would be 'unacceptable and unfair to Angie, the Dodge family, and all others involved."
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The Idaho Innocence Project said Christopher Tapp will appear in court Monday, July 1st, 2019 for a status conference.
The Idaho Innocence Project is hoping the prosecutor will take the opportunity to address Tapp and exonerate him.
Idaho Falls Police announced in a press conference on May 16, that Brian Dripps confessed to stabbing Angie Dodge on his own in 1996.
Dripps is a match the DNA evidence in the case, including semen a pubic hair recovered from the victim's body.
When asked about owing Tapp an apology, Police Chief Bryce Johnson announced, "Chris Tapp is another very important part of this case that deserves its day in the sunlight, and we will do that...that day will be in a couple of weeks, and we'll do that, whatever is right in a couple of weeks. We need a little more time to dot I's and cross t's."
The hearing is set for 11:00 am on Monday, July 1, 2019 at the Bonneville County Courthouse.
You can see our timeline of the Angie Dodge case, here.
