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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Robbery |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole |
Years Imprisoned: |
11 |
Year Crime: |
1999 |
Year Convicted: |
2000 |
Year Cleared: |
2011 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Ohio |
County or Region of Crime: |
Cuyahoga |
City of Crime: |
Cleveland |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"David Ayers was wrongly convicted in 2000 of the murder of seventy-six years old Dorothy Brown on December 17, 1999 in Cleveland, Ohio. Ayers was arrested on March 14, 2000. Ayers conviction was based on his purported confession to jailhouse informant Donald Hutchinson, who was working with the detectives investigating Brown's homicide. The trial judge denied the motion by Ayers' lawyer to suppress Hutchinson's testimony. Ayers was sentenced to life in prison without parole. After his state appeals were denied, Ayers filed a federal writ of habeas corpus, that among its claims asserted his sixth amendment right to counsel was violated by the admission of Hutchinson's testimony about Ayers purported admissions made to Hutchinson under the detective's supervision without the assistance of counsel. The district court judge denied Ayers petition, and he appealed. On October 5, 2010 the U. S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's ruling, and granted Ayers' petition in ruling: "By failing to suppress the statements Hutchinson deliberately elicited from Ayers after he met with the police, the state trial court deprived Ayers of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Ayers' conviction cannot stand in light of this error, which the State has failed to argue was harmless." (Ayers v. Hudson, 623 F. 3d 301, 316-317 (6th Circuit 2010)) The Court observed regarding Hutchinson's testimony: "A review and comparison of these three sources of evidence clearly demonstrates that Hutchinson's story is both inconsistent and unreliable. Importantly, it also strongly suggests, at a minimum, that the police shared information with Hutchinson." (Id., at 314) The State of Ohio was ordered to retry or release Ayers within 180 days. After Ayers was granted the new trial, DNA testing of crime scene evidence in the rape kit and a bloody towel excluded the presence of Ayers' DNA. A motion by the Cuyahoga County District Attorney to dismiss the charges against Ayers was granted on September 12, 2011, and he was released. In 2012 Ayers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Cleveland, the Cleveland PD, and officers involved in their prosecution. On March 8, 2013 a federal district court jury awarded compensation of $13.2 million for the violation of his rights by the two Cleveland detectives -- Denise Kovach and Michael Cipo -- who investigated Brown's murder. The defendants appealed, but in December 2014 the federal 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury award, stating "Testimony [about the DNA] tended to prove that Ayers did not kill Brown," the court said, "rebutting Hutchinson's testimony that Ayers confessed to the murder and increasing the likelihood that Cipo and Kovach instead fed Hutchinson details about the case." After the judgment was upheld Cleveland has refused to pay the money, claiming the judgment was against the detectives and not against the city, and that the judgment against one of the detectives was erased by his bankrupcy. As of January 2016 Ayers has not received any money." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On October 5, 2010 the U. S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Ayers' federal habeas corpus petition and ordered a new trial on the ground that his Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated by the trial court's failure to suppress inadmissible testimony by a police informant. After Ayers was granted the new trial, DNA testing of crime scene evidence in the rape kit and a bloody towel excluded the presence of Ayers' DNA. A motion by the Cuyahoga County District Attorney to dismiss the charges against Ayers was granted on September 12, 2011, and he was released." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Ohio Innocence Project and the Cuyahoga County Public Defender. Represented in civil lawsuit by Chicago based law firm of Loevy & Loevy. |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$13.2 million (City of Cleveland, March 2013, affirmed Dec. 2014)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
42 |
Age When Released: |
53 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Jury awards $13.2 million to former Cuyahoga housing authority police officer, finds 2 Cleveland detectives violated his civil rights, By James F. McCarty (staff), The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), March 8, 2013" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/nyregion/convictions-in-95-killing-of-cabdriver-to-be-thrown-out.htmlhttp://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/03/jury_awards_132_million_to.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Who Killed Dorothy Brown?, By Erick Trickey, Cleveland Magazine, March 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=E73ABD6180B44874871A91F6BA5C249C&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=BB67DE05C2CC430CBDFA7CAE4F18A600 |
Information Source 3: |
"Attorneys: Cleveland dodging payment on $19M in judgments, By Mark Gillispie (Associated Press), Belleville News-Democrat, January 15, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.bnd.com/news/nation-world/national/article54912110.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Ayers v. Hudson, 623 F. 3d 301 (6th Circuit 2010) (Granting federal habeas corpus petition)" |
Information Location 4: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13274362312512645819&q=david+ayers+&hl=en&as_sdt=4,111,126,275,276,280,281,293,294,301,302,303,338,339,343,344,356,357,364,365,366,381" |
Information Source 5: |
"Ayers v. City of Cleveland, 773 F. 3d 161 (6th Cir 2014) (Affirming jury award of $13.2 million for violation of civil rights by two Cleveland homicide detectives)" |
Information Location 5: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15720840315091963011&q=david+ayers+2014&hl=en&as_sdt=4,111,126,275,276,280,281,293,294,301,302,303,338,339,343,344,356,357,364,365,366,381" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org