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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Sexual exploitation of a minor |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
7 |
Year Crime: |
2005 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Colorado |
County or Region of Crime: |
El Paso |
City of Crime: |
Colorado Springs |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Lamont Ray Banks was wrongly convicted twice related to child sex charges he was charged with in 2005 in El Paso County, Colorado. Lamont Banks testified in his defense denying the charges. On August 24, 2006 Banks was convicted by a jury of charges that included felony sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl and the misdemeanor sexual exploitation of a child. Immediately after the verdict was read Banks bolted from the courtroom, but was arrested several hours later at a Colorado Springs motel. Banks' convictions were reversed in 2011 by the Colorado Court of Appeals. The Court ruled that insufficient evidence was introduced to sustain his conviction of sexual assault, so he couldn't be retried on that count. The Court ruled that he was entitled to a new trial on the sexual exploitation charge because of prosecutorial misconduct: The court held that the prosecutor's improper questioning of Banks affected his substantial rights and undermined the fundamental fairness of the trial. Banks was retried in 2013 of only sexual exploitation, and again convicted. On May 7, 2015 the Colorado Court of Appeal vacated Bank's conviction on the basis of insufficient evidence of his guilt. The court's ruling stated: "Because there was insufficient evidence on which a jury could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Banks knowingly possessed or controlled the video, Banks' conviction for sexual exploitation of a child cannot stand. ... The judgment of conviction and sentence are vacated," The charges were dismissed against Banks, and Banks' filed a petition for compensation under Colorado's wrongful conviction compensation statute that provides $70,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration. Banks told reporters about his exoneration: "When the Court of Appeals vacated my conviction and sentence, it placed me in a category of 'actual innocence'... as if the conviction never happened," As of October 2015 El Paso County DA Dan May and Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Hoffman opposed Banks' petition and were seeking its dismissal on the basis he wasn't innocent. The allleged victim has recanted her accusations against Banks, saying that she was intimidated to testify against Banks by the District Attorney who told her she needed to say what the DA wanted to hear." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On May 7, 2015 the Colorado Court of Appeal vacated Bank's conviction on the basis of insufficient evidence of his guilt. The court's ruling stated: "Because there was insufficient evidence on which a jury could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Banks knowingly possessed or controlled the video, Banks' conviction for sexual exploitation of a child cannot stand. ... The judgment of conviction and sentence are vacated,"" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
37 |
Age When Released: |
44 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"People v Banks, No. 13CA1321 (Court of Appeals, 5-07-2015) (Conviction vacated due to insufficient evidence of guilt by the prosecution.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://casetext.com/case/people-v-banks-553 |
Information Source 2: |
"El Paso County District Attorney Tries to Block Wrongly Convicted Colorado Springs Man From Receiving Restitution, By Marketwire, marketwatch.com, August 28, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/correction-from-source-el-paso-county-district-attorney-tries-to-block-wrongly-convicted-colorado-springs-man-from-receiving-restitution-2015-08-28 |
Information Source 3: |
"Defendant flees courthouse after conviction, is caught, By Dennis Huspeni, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.), August 25, 2006" |
Information Location 3: |
http://gazette.com/defendant-flees-courthouse-after-conviction-is-caught/article/10490 |
Information Source 4: |
"People v Banks, No. 07CA0082 (Court of Appeals, 8-4-2011) (Sexual assault conviction vacated due to insufficient evidence of guilt, and sexual exploitation conviction reversed due to prosecutor misconduct with retrial ordered.)" |
Information Location 4: |
" EJF newsletter -- Guilty until proven innocent but then you are still guilty, By Vanessa Hart, www.linkedin.com, September 7, 2015" |
Information Source 5: |
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ejf-newsletter-guilty-until-proven-innocent-you-still-vanessa-hart |
Information Location 5: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org