csi three greg sanders, meet defense criminalist jennifer rhodes. ms. rhodes is here to review the evidence on people v.gus ellis, 2006. yeah, that, uh, doesn't ring a bell. ms. rhodes, wh-why don't you give us the reader's digest version. gus ellis served seven years of a life sentence for the rape/murder of college student claire gibson. since his case hinged on dna, it fit the innocence project's protocol. we extracted touch dna from her jeans and her underwear, which matched that of serial sex offender clyde maroni. testing wasn't sensitive enough for touch dna back in 2006. maroni confessed and pled to a life sentence. now gus ellis is free and wants answers. i've been hired by his civil attorney to see the case through. so, if science proved his innocence through new and improved technology, what's the basis for the lawsuit? well, a week before her murder, claire gibson called the police complaining that a man was looking at her through her bedroom window. gus ellis was identified as the peeper. i remember that. he was also the one who called 911

. >> reporter: greg sanders says it's been a hit since it opened in june. more than 70 years ago there were plans for bigger, longer and fast erroler coasters. >> he proposed that for the 1939 golden gate expedition to add roller coasters to san francisco open bay bridge and the golden gate bridge. >> reporter: nancy said the architect was a man from connecticut who corresponded with bridge officials for months trying to convince him to build his dream. >> you are concientious in your own abilities, yet acquainted as we are in the legal and financial features. >> reporter: the architect persisted. >> there can be no opposition to the ride based on sound fact because nothing exist. >> my initial reaction is he was crazy. >> reporter: they planned to have the coasters train move as fast as 220 miles an hour and would have made it faster than anything that exists today. >> he was a visionary maybe. definitely it's a way out of the box idea for the 1930's. >> reporter: out of the box maybe. he called it -- >> perfectly simple, ingenious and natural. the coaster