Mark Diaz Bravo

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	8 years
Years Imprisoned:	4
Year Crime:	1990
Year Convicted:	1990
Year Cleared:	1994
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	Los Angeles
City of Crime:	Norwalk
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Mark Diaz Bravo was exonerated on January 6, 1994 of a 1990 rape in Los Angeles, California by post-conviction DNA tests of physical evidence after he'd been identified by the victim as her assailant. Although the alleged victim was a patient at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California and she had a well-documented history of hallucinations and an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, the jury relied on her testimony to convict Bravo. Mark Bravo was sentenced to 8 years in prison. After his exoneration that cast doubt that an assault had even taken place, Bravo filed a lawsuit in state court that named his trial lawyer Steve Neito, Los Angeles County, and senior hospital special investigator, Howard Giblin as defendants. Bravo's lawyer settled for $15,000 and Los Angeles County settled for $875,000. Giblin refused to settle and after a judge only trial, in April 1998 Bravo was awarded $3,925,976 for Giblin's "gross abuse of power." Giblin appealed, and the California Court of Appeals upheld the verdict plus interest. California Assembly Bill AB 1154 authorized payment, and after its passage by the legislature California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill in January 2004. Bravo received a check for $7,075,367.82 on February 13, 2004. Bravo's attorney, Hermez Moreno, told reporters he would receive "more than 30%, but less than 50%" of the $7 million as his fee. On May 24, 1998 Mark Bravo graduated from Western State University College of Law."
Conviction Caused By:	False eyewitness identification
Innocence Proved By:	Post-conviction DNA testing of evidence.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$7,965,368.82 total. $7,075,367.82 (Metropolitan State Hospital investigator Howard Giblin, Jan. 2004); $875,000 (Los Angeles County); $15,000 (Attorney Steve Neito)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	31
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Information Source 1:	"Not Guilty After All, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004"
Information Location 1:	http://sanfran.com/archives/view_story/200/
Information Source 2:	Innocence Project database
Information Location 2:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=03
Information Source 3:	"Nurse wrongly convicted of rape earns his law degree, Ft Worth Star-Telegram, May 25, 1998"
Information Location 3:	http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB042AE79203EE8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
Information Source 4:	"He's Got 7 Million Ways to Tell Her 'I Love You', By Monte Morin (Staff writer), Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2004"
Information Location 4:	http://www.1union1.com/wrongful_imprisonment_lawsuits.html
Information Source 5:	"Mark Diaz Bravo, Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern Law School"
Information Location 5:	http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/ca/mark-diaz-bravo.html
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Mark Diaz Bravo

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

8 years

Years Imprisoned:

4

Year Crime:

1990

Year Convicted:

1990

Year Cleared:

1994

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Los Angeles

City of Crime:

Norwalk

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False eyewitness identification

Innocence Proved By:

Post-conviction DNA testing of evidence.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$7,965,368.82 total. $7,075,367.82 (Metropolitan State Hospital investigator Howard Giblin, Jan. 2004); $875,000 (Los Angeles County); $15,000 (Attorney Steve Neito)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

31

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

"Not Guilty After All, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004"

Information Location 1:

http://sanfran.com/archives/view_story/200/

Information Source 2:

Innocence Project database

Information Location 2:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=03

Information Source 3:

"Nurse wrongly convicted of rape earns his law degree, Ft Worth Star-Telegram, May 25, 1998"

Information Location 3:

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB042AE79203EE8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

Information Source 4:

"He's Got 7 Million Ways to Tell Her 'I Love You', By Monte Morin (Staff writer), Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2004"

Information Location 4:

http://www.1union1.com/wrongful_imprisonment_lawsuits.html

Information Source 5:

"Mark Diaz Bravo, Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern Law School"

Information Location 5:

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/ca/mark-diaz-bravo.html

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