Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Benjamin Franklin Chavis Jr

 

Charge:

Arson and Conspiracy

Sentence:

29 to 34 years

Years Imprisoned:

8

Year Crime:

1971

Year Convicted:

1972

Year Cleared:

1981

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

North Carolina

County or Region of Crime:

New Hanover

City of Crime:

Wilmington

Result:

Judicially Exonerated and Later Pardoned

Summary of Case:

"The Wilmington Ten were codefendants Benjamin Franklin Chavis Jr (age 24); Connie Tindall (age 21); Marvin "Chili" Patrick (age 19); Wayne Moore (age 19); Reginald Epps (age 18); Jerry Jacobs (age 19); James "Bun" McKoy (age 19); Willie Earl Vereen (age 18); William Dallas "Joe" Wright, Jr. (age 19); and Anne Sheppard (age 35) (Age is when convicted.). The ten were wrongly convicted on October 17, 1972 of arson for the firebombing on February 6, 1971 of Mike's Grocery, a white-owned business in Wilmington, North Carolina. All but Sheppard were also convicted of conspiracy to assault emergency personnel at the scene of the burning. Their prosecutions were based on the eyewitness testimony of three key witnesses. The first trial of the ten codefendants began in June 2010, but the judge declared a mistrial when the prosecutor became ill. Their second trial began in September 1972. After their conviction by a mixed jury of whites and blacks, the ten were given sentences on October 18, 1972 ranging from 7 to 34 years in prison. The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed their convictions in 1974. In 1976 and 1977 the prosecution's three principle witnesses recanted their identifications of the ten defendants as the perpetrators. Based on the new evidence the ten filed post-conviction habeas corpus petitions were denied in state court. NC Governor Jim Hunt commuted the sentences of the ten in 1978, but he declined to pardon them. They filed a federal habeas corpus petition that was denied by the U.S. District Court. They appealed. On December 4, 1980 the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions and ordered a new trial based on (1) the prosecution failed to disclose exculpatory evidence, in violation of the defendants' due process rights [the Brady rule]; and (2) the trial judge erred by limiting the cross-examination of key prosecution witnesses about special treatment the witnesses received in connection with their testimony, in violation of the defendants' 6th Amendment right to confront the witnesses against them. Chavis v. State of North Carolina, 637 F.2d 213 (4th Cir. 1980). At the time of the court's ruling all the men had been released on parole, with Chavis the last to be paroled in December 1979. Sheppard's parole was terminated in 1978. The State declined to retry the Wilmington Ten, and the male defendants were released from custody (parole) in early 1981 after the Court's ruling reversing their convictions became final and they had to either be released or retried. Thirty-one years later the Wilmington Ten were pardoned based on their innocence by outgoing North Carolina Governor Gov. Beverly Perdue on December 31, 2012. The pardon's had no legal effect other than that only a person pardoned on the basis of their innocence can pursue a compensation claim under North Carolina's wrongful imprisonment compensation statute (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 148-82, et seq.). The six living defendants filed claims on February 25, 2013 with the NC Industrial Commission for compensation as persons erroneously convicted of felonies, and they were compensated. In May 2013 NC Attorney General Roy Cooper signed off on the payment of compensation totaling $1,113,605 to the six: Benjamin Chavis, $244,470; Marvin Patrick, $187,984; Wayne Moore, $175,000; Reginald Epps, $175,000; James McKoy, $175,000; and, Willie Vereen, $175,000. The estates of the four deceased Wilmington Ten defendants -- Connie Tindall, Ann Sheppard, William “Joe” Wright and Jerry Jacobs -- filed claims on February 25, 2013 for compensation from the State of North Carolina. The full state Industrial Commission board ruled on December 3, 2014 they were not elligible for compensation because the statute specifically states that only a "person" is to be compensated, not an estate. The famililes of the four appealed. On August 4, 2015 the NC Court of Appeals affirmed the Commissions ruling in a decision that stated: "Although the State and this Court solemnly acknowledge the profound harm caused by the wrongful imprisonment of any person, we affirm the Full [Industrial] Commission’s order dismissing plaintiffs claims because the [NC] statute does not allow compensation based upon posthumous pardons of innocence." Anne Sheppard married after her conviction, and at the time of her exoneration in 1981 she was known as Anne Sheppard Turner."

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecution concealed exculpatory evidence and the trial judge failed to allow cross-examination of key prosecution witnesses about their favorable treatment in exchange for testifying.

Innocence Proved By:

"In 1980, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal court, overturned the convictions, as it determined that (1) the prosecutor failed to disclose exculpatory evidence, in violation of the defendants' due process rights [the Brady rule]; and (2) the trial judge erred by limiting the cross-examination of key prosecution witnesses about special treatment the witnesses received in connection with their testimony, in violation of the defendants' 6th Amendment right to confront the witnesses against them. Chavis v. State of North Carolina, 637 F.2d 213 (4th Cir. 1980)."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$244,470 (State of North Carolina, May 2013)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

23

Age When Released:

31

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Chavis v. State of North Carolina, 637 F.2d 213 (4th Cir. 12-4-1980) (Vacating convictions of Wilmington Ten based on the prosecution's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence and trial judge limiting of cross-examination of a key prosecution witness.)"

Information Location 1:

"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4327592187180592092&q=Chavis+v.+State+of+North+Carolina,+637+F.2d+213+%284th+Cir.+1980%29&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"

Information Source 2:

"State of North Carolina v. Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Marvin Patrick, Connie Tyndall, et. Al (also known as the "The Wilmington Ten Case"), U.S. Dept. of Justice "

Information Location 2:

http://www.justice.gov/crt/foia/readingroom/wilmington/

Information Source 3:

"North Carolina governor pardons 'Wilmington 10', By Steve Almasy, CNN.com, January 1, 2013"

Information Location 3:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/31/justice/north-carolina-wilmington-10/

Information Source 4:

"Families of deceased Wilmington 10 members want compensation from the state, By Scott Mooneyham, February 13, 2014, The Charlotte Observer"

Information Location 4:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article9096956.html

Information Source 5:

"Estate of Jacobs v. State, 775 SE 2d 873 (NC Court of Appeals, 8-4-2015) (NC's state compensation law excludes wrongful imprisonment compensation to the estates of persons posthumously pardoned.)"

Information Location 5:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12841240726538231932&q=ann+sheppard+industrial+commission&hl=en&as_sdt=4,34"

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

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