Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Second Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
25 years to Life in prison |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.5 |
Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
1982 |
Year Cleared: |
1984 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Queens |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Nathaniel Carter was wrongly convicted of second-degree murder in the stabbing of his mother-in-law in Queens County, New York on September 13, 1982. The prosecution's key evidence was the testimony of the victim's daughter and Carter's estranged wife, Delissa. She testified she saw Carter stab her mother. After his conviction by a jury Carter was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Peekskill police officer Lieutenant James Nelson was a childhood friend of Carter's, and his independent investigation determined Carter could not have been in Queens at the time of the murder. Nelson contacted New York City Legal Aid lawyers, who convinced Queens District Attorney John Santucci that Carter did not commit the crime. Santucci had Delissa Carter arrested as a material witness, and believing she was being arrested for her mother's murder, she confessed to the crime. The charges were dismissed with the approval of the Queens County DA's Office, and Carter was released from prison on January 17, 1984 after almost two and one-half years in prison. In 1986, Carter accepted an out-of-court settlement of $450,000 to compensate for his wrongful conviction. 'One of Carter's lawyers said: "If New York State had the death penalty, God knows what would have happened to this poor man."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Perjury by the State' star witness, who was the actual killer." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Based on the crdible confession by the actual killer, the charges were dismissed with the approval of the Queens County DA's Office, and Carter was released from prison on January 17, 1984." |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases, Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 103." |
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Information Source 2: |
"The New York Times, March 15, 1994" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org