|
Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
11.5 |
Charge: |
Rape and Robbery |
Sentence: |
45 yrs |
Year Convicted: |
1988 |
Year
Cleared:
|
2000 |
Location
of Trial:
|
California |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary
of Case:
|
"Exonerated by DNA tests after being convicted on the basis of two erroneous eyewitness identifications and "expert" testimony that his blood matched that of a woman raped in a Lake Elsinore, CA shoe store. The victim didn't identify him as the attacker until after she had seen his picture on a wanted poster for an unrelated crime. A woman working at a store next to the shoe store also misidentified Atkins, who testified on his own behalf and had an alibi witness also testify. The prosecution fought the Innocence Project for five years to prevent DNA testing of the attackers semen samples: when tested they proved Atkins innocence. Awarded $2 million in April 2007 by a federal jury after a trial of his federal civil rights lawsuit against Riverside County, California and several sheriff officers. In August 2007, $1.3 million in fees and $165,000 in costs were awarded Atkins lawyers. Atkins lead lawyers were Cochran, Neufeld and Scheck, assisted by three co-counsels." |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
Erroneous eyewitness testimony of the victim and another person. |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
DNA
|
Defendant
Aided By:
|
Innocence Project at Cardozo School of Law |
Compensation Awarded: |
$2 million (April 2007) |
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
22 |
Age
When Released:
|
34 |
Information Source 1: |
"Riverside County must pay wrongly convicted man, By Henry Weinstein (staff), Los Angels Times, May 1, 2007" |
Information
Location 1:
|
"http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/scotus/la-me-atkins1may01,1,3515232.story?coll=la-news-politics-supreme_court" |
Information
Source 2:
|
"Riverside County to pay $2 million to man wrongfully convicted, By Staff and Wire Reports, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), May 1, 2007" |
Information
Location 2:
|
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_atkins02.3e436c5.html# |
Information
Source 3:
|
"Innocence Lost: Special Investigation, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004, p. 88" |
Information
Location 3:
|
http://www.sanfranmag.com/files/pdfs/exonerated.pdf |
Information
Source 4:
|
Newspaper articles |
Information
Location 4:
|
"LA times, 2-18-00 and 2-22-00" |
Information
Source 5:
|
Innocence Project database |
Information
Location 5:
|
http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=70 |
Ethnicity/Skin:
|
Black |
Book
About
Case:
|
"Innocence Lost: Special Investigation, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004, p. 88" |
Book
Information:
|
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org