Wrongly Convicted Database

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Joseph Lamont Abbitt

Years Imprisoned:	18
Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	2009
Location of Trial:	North Carolina
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	Wrongly convicted on June 22, 1995, of two counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree kidnapping in the 1991 sexual assaults of a 16-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Joseph Abbitt was convicted based on the eyewitness testimony of the two girls, and he was sentenced to life in prison. In 2009 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the girl's assailant. Abbitt filed a motion for a new trial based on the new forensic evidence. On September 2, 2009 Abbitt's conviction was vacated by a Forsyth Superior Court judge and he was released later that day. Arrested in 1991, Abbitt was jailed four years awaiting trial, and spent another 14 year in prison, for a total of 18 years of incarceration. Abbitt was the seventh convicted man in North Carolina exonerated by DNA evidence.
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness testimony by the two victims.
Innocence Proved By:	In 2009 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the girl's assailant. Abbitt filed a motion for a new trial based on the new forensic evidence. On September 2, 2009 Abbitt's conviction was vacated by a Forsyth Superior Court judge and he was released later that day.
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Was Perpetrator Found?
Age When Imprisoned:	35
Age When Released:	49
Information Source 1:	Abbitt is a free man - Exonerated by DNA after 14 years, he feels a bit lost, By Michael Hewlett and Wesley Young, Winston-Salem Journal, September 3, 2009
Information Location 1:	http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/03/abbitt-is-a-free-man/news/
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Information Location 2:	http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/924364.html
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Ethnicity/Skin:	Black
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Joseph Lamont Abbitt

Years Imprisoned:

18

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

2009

Location of Trial:

North Carolina

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness testimony by the two victims.

Innocence Proved By:

In 2009 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the girl's assailant. Abbitt filed a motion for a new trial based on the new forensic evidence. On September 2, 2009 Abbitt's conviction was vacated by a Forsyth Superior Court judge and he was released later that day.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Found?

Age When Imprisoned:

35

Age When Released:

49

Information Source 1:

Abbitt is a free man - Exonerated by DNA after 14 years, he feels a bit lost, By Michael Hewlett and Wesley Young, Winston-Salem Journal, September 3, 2009

Information Location 1:

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/03/abbitt-is-a-free-man/news/

Information Source 2:

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/924364.html

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Ethnicity/Skin:

Black

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

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