following jesperson's conviction, the prosecutors in pavlinac and sosnovske's cases urged judge paul lipscomb of the third circuit court to exonerate them, and began petitioning his court on october 26; he initially refused to free them, stating that jesperson's involvement "didn't necessarily absolve pavlinac and sosnovske." jesperson himself also began writing letters to news and media outlets following his arrest and conviction, urging the courts to free pavlinac and sosnovske. on november 27, 1995, lipscomb exonerated both, with sosnovske's conviction being set aside due to pavlinac's violation of his civil rights. "there’s no longer any doubt that these two individuals are innocent. the evidence is compelling," lipscomb said. despite this, lipscomb chastised pavlinac during the exoneration hearing for her abuse of the judicial system.