Anthony Berry

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Charge:	Drug related (child present)
Sentence:
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:
Year Convicted:
Year Cleared:	2016
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Kings
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Anthony Berry was wrongly convicted of three counts of the first-degree misdemeanor of unlawfully dealing with a child in Kings County, New York. Police searched an apartment in Brooklyn and Berry was sleeping on a sofa bed in the living room when the officers arrived. A search of the apartment found bags of crack cocaine. A woman friend of Berrys', T.H., lived in the apartment with her three minor children and a grandchild. Berry had no legal relationship to any of the children -- he was neither the father nor a legal guardian, and he wasn't on the apartment's lease agreement. T.H. pled guilty to one count each of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child (NYS Penal Law § 260.20 [1]), and she was sentenced to five years' probation. Berry had a jury trial, during which his defense was the drugs found were not his, and that he had no control of the children. During his trial T. H. testified that Berry was a friend but he did not live in the apartment, he only stayed there a few times, and that when he did he slept on a mattress on the floor, not in a sofa bed with T. H. and the children, that he had no "authority" over the children, and that he didn't provide care for them. The jury acquitted Berry of the drug charges, but found him guilty of three counts of unlawfully dealing with a child by permiting underage children to "enter or remain" in a place of drug activity. (§ 260.20 [1]) -- the same charge T. H. had pled guilty to committing. Berry appealed. On November 6, 2014 the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division affirmed Berry's convictions. He was granted leave to appeal that decision on April 2, 2015. Oral arguments were held in Berry's case on May 5, 2016. On June 14, 2016 the New York Court of Appeals reversed his convictions based on the prosecution's introduction of insufficient evidence that Berry had any authority to prevent or allow the children to remain in their apartment, and thus didn't have control over the children as required by the statute. The Court's ruling stated: "Moreover, the People do not deny that the apartment was the children's home – where they were present with TH, an adult who was responsible for their care – and the People propose no theory as to how, short of kidnapping, defendant might have directly prevented them from remaining there." (People v. Anthony Berry, No. 94 (NY State Ct of Appeals, 6-14-2016)"
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On June 14, 2016 the New York Court of Appeals reversed his convictions based on the prosecution's introduction of insufficient evidence that Berry had any authority to prevent or allow the children to remain in their apartment, and thus didn't have control over the children as required by the statute. The Court's ruling stated: "Moreover, the People do not deny that the apartment was the children's home – where they were present with TH, an adult who was responsible for their care – and the People propose no theory as to how, short of kidnapping, defendant might have directly prevented them from remaining there." (People v. Berry, No. 94 (NY State Ct of Appeals, 6-14-2016)"
Defendant Aided By:	Center for Appellate Litigation (New York City)
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"The People v. Anthony Berry, No. 94 (New York State Court of Appeals, 6-14-2016) (Reversing convictions based on insufficient evidence of guilt.)"
Information Location 1:	https://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2016/Jun16/94opn16-Decision.pdf
Information Source 2:	"People v. Anthony Berry, 122 AD3d 414, 995 NYS2d 70 (NY Appellate Div., 1st Dept., 11-6-2014) (Affirming convictions)"
Information Location 2:	"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3558154718022941549&q=122+AD3d+414,+995+NYS2d+70&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"
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Anthony Berry

Charge:

Drug related (child present)

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

Year Convicted:

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Kings

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Center for Appellate Litigation (New York City)

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"The People v. Anthony Berry, No. 94 (New York State Court of Appeals, 6-14-2016) (Reversing convictions based on insufficient evidence of guilt.)"

Information Location 1:

https://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2016/Jun16/94opn16-Decision.pdf

Information Source 2:

"People v. Anthony Berry, 122 AD3d 414, 995 NYS2d 70 (NY Appellate Div., 1st Dept., 11-6-2014) (Affirming convictions)"

Information Location 2:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3558154718022941549&q=122+AD3d+414,+995+NYS2d+70&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"

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