Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Knolly Brown Jr.

 

Charge:

Child/Minor Sex Abuse (incl. molestation)

Sentence:

5 to 6-3/4 years

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

2008

Year Convicted:

2009

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

North Carolina

County or Region of Crime:

Edgecombe

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Knolly Brown Jr. was wrongly convicted on October 14, 2009 of second-degree forcible rape of an underage girl in 2008 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. His prosecution was based on his identification by the victim. Brown agreed to pled no contest to the rape charge in exchange for the Edgecomb County DA's Office agreeing to dismissal of first-degree rape of a child and first-degree kidnapping. Brown was sentenced to 5 years to 6 years and 9 months in prison, and sex offender registration upon his release. In 2012 the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission began investigating Brown's case. It was discovered in August 2014 that DNA testing in 2008 of a pubic hair excluded Brown as the source, and that information had not been disclosed to Brown's lawyer -- and in fact a police investigator in the case had never provided the forensic report to the Edgecombe County DA. Additional DNA testing was done on crime related evidence that included the victim's jacket, her pants, her belt, and her panties, and Brown's DNA profile was excluded from being on any of that evidence. Based on the new evidence of his actual innocence, the NCIIC voted to recommend Brown's case for judicial review. On May 27, 2016 a three-judge panel of the Edgecombe County General Court of Justice, Superior Ct Div., granted Knolly's actual innocence petition in ruling, "Mr. Brown, has proved by clear and convincing evidence that he is innocent of the rape of the victim in this case." Prior to Brown's rape conviction he had been convicted five separate times from 1991 to 2007 of various misdemeanor crimes in Edgecombe County, and after his release from his rape conviction he was convicted of separate misdemeanors, on April 6, 2015 in Edgecombe County, and on September 15, 2015 in Nash County."

Conviction Caused By:

Mistaken eyewitness identification by the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

"On May 27, 2016 a three-judge panel of the Edgecombe County General Court of Justice, Superior Ct Div., granted Knolly's actual innocence petition in ruling, "Mr. Brown, has proved by clear and convincing evidence that he is innocent of the rape of the victim in this case.""

Defendant Aided By:

North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

38

Age When Released:

43

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"State of North Carolina v. Knolly Brown Jr., No. 08-CRS-50309 (County of Edgecombe General Court of Justice, Superior Ct Div., 6-13-2016) (Granting petition and declaring "Mr. Brown, has proved by clear and convincing evidence that he is innocent of the rape of the victim in this case.")"

Information Location 1:

http://www.innocencecommission-nc.gov/Forms/pdf/knolly-brown/three-judge-panel-opinion-state-vs-knolly-brown.pdf

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

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