Jeffrey DeWayne Clark

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	24
Year Crime:	1992
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	2018
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Kentucky
County or Region of Crime:	Meade
City of Crime:	Louisville
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Jeffrey DeWayne Clark and his codefendant Garr Keith Hardin were wrongly convicted in 1995 of murder of in the death of Rhonda Sue Warford in Meade County, Kentucky in April 1992. The 19-year-old Rhonda Warford disappeared from her home in Louisville on April 2, 1992, and her body was found three days later 50 miles from her home in Meade County. Her autopsy determined she had been stabbed to death. The prosecution alleged that Jeffrey Clark and Garr Hardin killed Warford as a Satanic Ritual, and their prosecution was based on the testimony of a jailhouse snitch, the expert testimony of a crime lab technician that a hair recovered from Warford;s sweatpants was similar to Hardin's hair, and the testimony of then Louisville Police Detective Mark Handy that Hardin admitted to him he'd participated in animal sacrifice and wanted to sacrifice a human being. After their convictions by a jury Hardin and Clark were sentenced to life in prison. Post-conviction DNA testing of the hair excluded Hardin or Clark as the source. It was also established that detective Handy lied in the case of Edwin Chandler who was wrongly convicted of murder in another case. Hardin and Clark filed post-conviction petitions based on the new evidence. Their petitions were granted, and the prosecution's motions to dismiss the charges after prosecutors elected not to retry them, was granted on February 26, 2018. Chandler settled his lawsuit against the City of Louisville for $8.5 million. Hardin and Clark filed petitions to vacate their convictions and for a new trial, which were granted in 2016 by Meade Circuit Court Judge Brian T. Butler. Hardin and Clark were released on bond. On February 26, 2018 the Kentuck Attorney General's motion to dismiss the charges against Hardin and Clark was granted by Meade Circuit Court Judge Brian T. Butler."
Conviction Caused By:	"Perjury by jailhouse snitch, unreliable hair analysis testimony by a crime lab technician, and unreliable testimony by a homicide detective."
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 26, 2018 the Kentuck Attorney General and the Meade County District Attorney's Office's motion to dismiss the charges against Hardin and Clark was granted by Meade Circuit Court Judge Brian T. Butler."
Defendant Aided By:	Post-conviction Kentucky Innocence Project.
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	21
Age When Released:	45
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"After 26 years, men accused in Satanic murder case are free, By Andrw Wolfson, USA Today, February 26, 2018"
Information Location 1:	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/26/after-26-years-men-accused-satanic-murder-case-free/375087002/
Information Source 2:	"23 years after first conviction, AG moves to drop murder charges falsely linked to satanic worship, By Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier Journal, February. 8, 2018"
Information Location 2:	https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/02/08/kentucky-false-satanic-murder-charges-dropped/319790002/
Information Source 3:	"Judge slams prosecutor for vindictiveness in Kentucky murder case once linked to satanism, By Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier Journal, January 29, 2018"
Information Location 3:	https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/01/29/louisville-satanic-worship-murder-prosecutor-vindictiveness/1074386001/
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Jeffrey DeWayne Clark

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

24

Year Crime:

1992

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

2018

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Kentucky

County or Region of Crime:

Meade

City of Crime:

Louisville

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Perjury by jailhouse snitch, unreliable hair analysis testimony by a crime lab technician, and unreliable testimony by a homicide detective."

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 26, 2018 the Kentuck Attorney General and the Meade County District Attorney's Office's motion to dismiss the charges against Hardin and Clark was granted by Meade Circuit Court Judge Brian T. Butler."

Defendant Aided By:

Post-conviction Kentucky Innocence Project.

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

21

Age When Released:

45

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"After 26 years, men accused in Satanic murder case are free, By Andrw Wolfson, USA Today, February 26, 2018"

Information Location 1:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/26/after-26-years-men-accused-satanic-murder-case-free/375087002/

Information Source 2:

"23 years after first conviction, AG moves to drop murder charges falsely linked to satanic worship, By Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier Journal, February. 8, 2018"

Information Location 2:

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/02/08/kentucky-false-satanic-murder-charges-dropped/319790002/

Information Source 3:

"Judge slams prosecutor for vindictiveness in Kentucky murder case once linked to satanism, By Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier Journal, January 29, 2018"

Information Location 3:

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/01/29/louisville-satanic-worship-murder-prosecutor-vindictiveness/1074386001/

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

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