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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
15 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
7 |
Year Crime: |
2010 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Maryland |
County or Region of Crime: |
Baltimore |
City of Crime: |
Baltimore |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Umar Burley was wrongly convicted in 2011 of manslaughter in the death of 86-year-old Elbert Davis in April 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. Burley's prosecution was based on him driving his vehicle at high speed while trying to elude police chasing him, when his vehicle striking the vehicle driven by Davis, killing Davis and injuring Davis' wife. Police claimed they watched Burley conduct a drug transaction and when they moved in to arrest him he drove off at high speed. After the crash the police found no drugs, so they planted drugs in his vehicle. Burley insisted he hadn't conducted a drug transaction and the drugs were planted. However, he pled guilty in exchange for a reduction of the charges to manslaughter and a 15 year sentence. In 2017 federal officers investigating Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force discovered that drugs had been planted in Burley’s vehicle after the collision. Burley was released on probation in 2017. Former Baltimore Sergeant Wayne Jenkins was charged with planting the drugs on Burley. Burley pled guilty in January 2018 to those charges, and also charges related to using his position to rob people for many years of money and drugs. Jenkins also admitted to conspiring with a bail bondsman to re-sell drugs. Jenkins’ attorney maintains another officer, Det. Sean Suiter, planted the drugs on Burley, while Jenkins “knowingly wrote a false report." Suiter was Suiter was killed one day before he was scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the corruption allegations. In a negotiated resolution agreed to by Burley and the prosecution, on April 9, 2018 Burley's guilty plea was withdrawn, and his conviction was vacated based on the new evidence discovered during the corruption investigation." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"In a negotiated resolution agreed to by Burley and the prosecution, on April 9, 2018 Burley's guilty plea was withdrawn, and his conviction was vacated based on the new evidence discovered during the corruption investigation." |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
39 |
Age When Released: |
46 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Manslaughter conviction overturned for man arrested by corrupt Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force officer, By Justin Fenton, April 9, 2018" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-burley-manslaughter-overturned-20180409-story.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org