Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

Go to Database Search Page

Go to  Database Index Page

Weldon Wayne Carr

 

Charge:

Murder and Arson

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

2.58

Year Crime:

1993

Year Convicted:

1994

Year Cleared:

2004

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Georgia

County or Region of Crime:

Fulton

City of Crime:

Sandy Springs

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Weldon Wayne Carr was wrongly convicted in May 1994 of maice murder and first-degree arson in the death of his wife in 1993 at their home in Sandy Springs, Georgia. In 1997 Carr's conviction was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court and ordered a new trial based on prosecutor misconduct. Carr was released on bond in December 1997. After Carr's conviction he discovered the new forensic evidence that the fire was not arson, and the prosecution's fire expert at trial had been mistaken. In June 2004 the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's order that the charges be dismissed because the prosecution had not initiated a retrial after six years. The prosecution couldn't proceed with a retrial because it was unable to find a fire expert to support their theory the fire was arson. The led prosecutor in Carr's trial was Fulton County Assistant DA Nancy Grace, who later became a televsion program host. The Georgia Supreme Court said of Grace's conduct during the trial: "[Ms. Grace] engaged in an extensive pattern of inappropriate and, in some cases, illegal conduct in the course of this trial.""

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous expert testiimony that a fire in which his wife died was arson.

Innocence Proved By:

Conviction vacated by the Georgia Supreme Court based on prosecutor misconduct.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

58

Age When Released:

61

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Murder Retrial Denied, Bill Rankin (staff), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 29, 2004"

Information Location 1:

http://truthinjustice.org/carr.htm

Information Source 2:

"Georgia Supreme Court overturns murder verdit: Former Fulton prosecutor Nancy Grace receives rebuke, Rome News-Tribune, March 11, 1997"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Carr v. State, 482 SE 2d 314, 267 Ga. 701 (Ga. Supreme Court, 1997) (Reversing convictions and ordering new trial due to prosecutor misconduct.)"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

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

Hosted on forejustice.org and mirrored on justicedenied.org .