Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Dean Cage

 

Charge:

Child/Minor Sexual Assault

Sentence:

40 years

Years Imprisoned:

14

Year Crime:

1994

Year Convicted:

1996

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Illinois

County or Region of Crime:

Cook

City of Crime:

Chicago

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Dean Cage was wrongly convicted in 1996 of the aggravated sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in Chicago on November 14, 1994. Cage's prosecution was based on the girl's identification of him. Dean Cage was sentenced to 40 years in prison. In 2004 Cage filed in federal court a handwritten petition of habeas corpus. He asserted he was innocent, and it was proven by the fact that the girl had contracted venereal diseases from her assailant, and tests showed Cage did not have any venereal diseases. Cage's petition was rejected. In early 2008 DNA tests were conducted that excluded him as the girl's attacker, and he was released after 14 years of wrongful confinement. A Cook County Circuit Court judge issued Cage a "certificate of innocence" that enables him to file a claim for compensation from the state. Cage was awarded $170,000 in wrongful imprisonment compensation by the State of Illinois in 2009. In May 2009 Cage filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago, a police detective who investigated the rape and other unnamed officers. Chicago agreed to settle the lawsuit for $7.63 million on December 10, 2014. "

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification of the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

In 2008 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the woman's assailant and he was released after 14 years of wrongful confinement.

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project New York

Compensation Awarded:

"$7,800,000 total. $170,000 (State of Illinois, 2009) and 7,630,000 (City of Chicago, 12-10-2014)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

28

Age When Released:

42

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Dna frees man convicted of rape, By Frank Main and Eric Herman (Staff reporters), Chicago Sun-Times, May 27, 2008"

Information Location 1:

"http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/972547,dna052708.article"

Information Source 2:

"Chicago man sues Chicago, police over wrongful conviction, The Chicago Tribune, May 27, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/chicago-man-sues-over-wrongful-conviction.html

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

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