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Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
14 |
Charge: |
Sexual Assault (includes aggravated) |
Sentence: |
40 years |
Year Convicted: |
1996 |
Year
Cleared:
|
2008 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Illinois |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary
of Case:
|
"Wrongly convicted in 1996 of the aggravated sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in Chicago, 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. In May 209 Cage filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago, a police detective who investigated the rape and other unnamed officers." |
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: |
|
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
27 |
Age
When Released:
|
41 |
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:
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Chicago man sues Chicago, police over wrongful conviction, The Chicago Tribune, May 27, 2009 |
Information
Location 2:
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http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/chicago-man-sues-over-wrongful-conviction.html |
Information
Source 3:
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Location 3:
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Information
Source 4:
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Information
Location 4:
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Information
Source 5:
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Information
Location 5:
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Ethnicity/Skin:
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Black |
Book
About
Case:
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Book
Information:
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org