Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Kenneth Blackshaw

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

5 years

Years Imprisoned:

2.5

Year Crime:

2013

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Ohio

County or Region of Crime:

Cuyahoga

City of Crime:

East Cleveland

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Kenneth Blackshaw was wrongly convicted in 2013 of drug trafficking in Cleveland, Ohio. Blackshaw was sentenced to five years in prison. An investigation of Blackshaw's case by the Cuyahoga County DA's Office determined the evidence relied on to obtain his conviction was unreliable, because of misconduct by the arresting officers. Those two officers were among three East Cleveland PD officers charged in the fall of 2015 of federal criminal charges of conspiracy, theft and making false statements. To conceal their wrongdoing the officers stole evidence, conducted an illegal search and altered official reports. On February 24, 2016 a motion by the Cuyahoga County DA's Office to dismiss Blackshaw's indictment was granted by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Clancy. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty told Judge Clancy Blackshaw's conviction must be vacated because of misconduct by the East Cleveland Police officers who arrested him. McGinty said, "We have a duty to end the case. We have no case. Our officers, our witnesses were in the wrong. Our evidence is unusable, and we seek justice — which is the release of this individual." As of April 2017, 43 defendants whose convictions were based on evidence provided by the three corrupt East Cleveland Police Officers had been exonerated."

Conviction Caused By:

Fabrication of evidence by the aresting officers.

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 24, 2016 a motion by the Cuyahoga County DA's Office to dismiss Blackshaw's indictment was granted by a Cuyahoga County judge. The motion was based on new evidence that the evidence relied on to obtain Blackshaw's conviction was unreliable."

Defendant Aided By:

Cuyahoga County DA's Conviction Integrity Unit

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

47

Age When Released:

50

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Prosecutors seek to quash convictions for trio investigated by corrupt East Cleveland officers, By Eric Heisig (Staff), Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 23, 2016"

Information Location 1:

http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2016/02/prosecutors_seek_to_squash_con.html

Information Source 2:

"Prosecutor moves to dismiss conviction because of police misconduct, By Staff, WKYC (Cleveland, OH), February 24, 2016"

Information Location 2:

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/cuyahoga-county/prosecutor-moves-to-dismiss-conviction-because-of-police-misconduct/54805003

Information Source 3:

"Cuyahoga County prosecutors move to vacate 40 cases brought by crooked East Cleveland cops, By Eric Heisig (Staff), Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 13, 2016"

Information Location 3:

http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2016/12/cuyahoga_county_prosecutors_mo.html

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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