Obie Steven Anthony III

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	17
Year Crime:	1994
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	2011
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	Los Angeles
City of Crime:	Los Angeles
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Obie Steven Anthony III and Reggie Cole were codefendants wrongly convicted in 1995 of a 1994 Los Angeles murder during a botched robbery attempt. Anthony and Cole's prosecution was primarily based on the testimony of a single eyewitness. Obie Anthony and Cole were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 50 years. After an investigation by the Project for the Innocent at Loyola Law School and the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara Univ. School of Law discovered that the eyewitness hadn't been certain Anthony was the murderer at the time of his trial they filed a motion for a new trial. The charges were dismissed against Cole in July 2009. On September 30, 2011 Anthony's conviction was overturned by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and he was released on October 4, 2011 after 17 years of wrongful imprisonment. Anthony and Cole filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits against the City of Los Angles and the LAPD. In April 2015 the City of Los Angeles agreed to settle Obie Anthony's federal civil rights lawsuit for $8.3 million. Los Angeles County agreed to settle Anthony's federal civil rights lawsuit for $895,000. Anthony filed a writ of habeas corpus in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking a court order that he was factually innocent. After a ten day evidentiary hearing, the Court ruled that Anthony was factually innocent. The State appealed. On April 27, 2015 the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7, affirmed the trial court's ruling. (In RE Obie Steven Anthony II, B256949 (CA CA, 2nd Dist, Div. 7, 4-27-15) Based on his factual innocence, Anthony filed a claim for compensation with the State of California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. On September 18, 2015 the VCGCB awarded Obie Anthony $581,600 in compensation under the state wrongful imprisonment statute that authorized paying him $100 per day for his 5,816 days wrongfully incarcerated in a state prison. Anthony Obie was awarded or settled for a total of $9,776,600. On January 23, 2017 Cole settled his federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for $5.2 million."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On September 30, 2011 Obie's conviction was overturned by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and he was released on October 4, 2011."
Defendant Aided By:	Project for the Innocent at Loyola Law School and Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara Univ. School of Law
Compensation Awarded:	"$9,776,600 total. $8,300,000 (City of Los Angeles, April 2015), $895,000 (Los Angeles County), $581,600 (State of Calif., Sept. 18, 2015)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	19
Age When Released:	36
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Judge overturns murder conviction in 1994 slaying, Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2011"
Information Location 1:	http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/01/local/la-me-conviction-overturned-20111001
Information Source 2:	"Man released after murder conviction overturned, Associated Press story, October 4, 2011"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"Friends Wrongfully Imprisoned for Nearly Two Decades — Until the Innocence Project Won Their Freedom, By Christianna Kyriacou, LA Weekly, October 18, 2012"
Information Location 3:	http://www.laweekly.com/2012-10-18/news/reggie-cole-obie-anthony-innocence-project-murders/
Information Source 4:	"L.A. murder saga costs city $8 million, By Stephen Ceasar (Staff writer), Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2015"
Information Location 4:	http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-0412-lapd-suit-20150412-story.html#page=1
Information Source 5:	"In the Matter of the Claim of Obie Steven Anthony III, Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board of the State of California, September 18, 2015 (Notice of Decision) "
Information Location 5:	http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/docs/pc4900/PC-4900-Approved-Anthony.pdf
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Obie Steven Anthony III

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

17

Year Crime:

1994

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

2011

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Los Angeles

City of Crime:

Los Angeles

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On September 30, 2011 Obie's conviction was overturned by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and he was released on October 4, 2011."

Defendant Aided By:

Project for the Innocent at Loyola Law School and Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara Univ. School of Law

Compensation Awarded:

"$9,776,600 total. $8,300,000 (City of Los Angeles, April 2015), $895,000 (Los Angeles County), $581,600 (State of Calif., Sept. 18, 2015)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

19

Age When Released:

36

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Judge overturns murder conviction in 1994 slaying, Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2011"

Information Location 1:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/01/local/la-me-conviction-overturned-20111001

Information Source 2:

"Man released after murder conviction overturned, Associated Press story, October 4, 2011"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Friends Wrongfully Imprisoned for Nearly Two Decades — Until the Innocence Project Won Their Freedom, By Christianna Kyriacou, LA Weekly, October 18, 2012"

Information Location 3:

http://www.laweekly.com/2012-10-18/news/reggie-cole-obie-anthony-innocence-project-murders/

Information Source 4:

"L.A. murder saga costs city $8 million, By Stephen Ceasar (Staff writer), Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2015"

Information Location 4:

http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-0412-lapd-suit-20150412-story.html#page=1

Information Source 5:

"In the Matter of the Claim of Obie Steven Anthony III, Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board of the State of California, September 18, 2015 (Notice of Decision) "

Information Location 5:

http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/docs/pc4900/PC-4900-Approved-Anthony.pdf

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