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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole |
Years Imprisoned: |
15 |
Year Crime: |
1994 |
Year Convicted: |
1995 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
California |
County or Region of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
City of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Reggie Cole and Obie Anthony were codefendants wrongly convicted in 1995 of a 1994 Los Angeles murder during a botched robbery attempt. Anthony and Cole's prosecution was primarily based on the testimony of a single eyewitness. Obie Anthony and Cole were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 50 years. After an investigation by the Project for the Innocent at Loyola Law School and the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara Univ. School of Law discovered that the eyewitness hadn't been certain Anthony was the murderer at the time of his trial they filed a motion for a new trial. The charges were dismissed against Cole in July 2009. On September 30, 2011 Anthony's conviction was overturned by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and he was released on October 4, 2011 after 17 years of wrongful imprisonment. Anthony and Cole filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits against the City of Los Angles and the LAPD. In April 2015 the City of Los Angeles agreed to settle Obie Anthony's federal civil rights lawsuit for $8.3 million. Los Angeles County agreed to settle Anthony's federal civil rights lawsuit for $895,000. Anthony filed a writ of habeas corpus in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking a court order that he was factually innocent. After a ten day evidentiary hearing, the Court ruled that Anthony was factually innocent. The State appealed. On April 27, 2015 the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7, affirmed the trial court's ruling. (In RE Obie Steven Anthony II, B256949 (CA CA, 2nd Dist, Div. 7, 4-27-15) Based on his factual innocence, Anthony filed a claim for compensation with the State of California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. On September 18, 2015 the VCGCB awarded Obie Anthony $581,600 in compensation under the state wrongful imprisonment statute that authorized paying him $100 per day for his 5,816 days wrongfully incarcerated in a state prison. Anthony Obie was awarded or settled for a total of $9,776,600 in compensation. On January 23, 2017 Cole settled his federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for $5.2 million. After Cole's release he was arrested in 2012 for a shooting in Los Angeles County, and in 2016 a mistrial was declared because the jury couldn't reach a verdict. To resolve the case, on March 10, 2017 Cole pled no contest to mayhem and assault. Cole was sentenced to serve a suspended sentence of 18 years, 5 years of formal probation, perform 200 hours of community service, and have no association with member of the street gang that Cole belongs to. " |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
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Defendant Aided By: |
California Innocence Project |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
19 |
Age When Released: |
34 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Charges dismissed in case of man convicted 14 years ago of murder during botched robbery, By Hecter Becerra, Los Angeles Times, July 4, 2009" |
Information Location 1: |
"http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-murder-dismissed4-2009jul04,0,4379632.story" |
Information Source 2: |
"Friends Wrongfully Imprisoned for Nearly Two Decades — Until the Innocence Project Won Their Freedom, By Christianna Kyriacou, LA Weekly, October 18, 2012" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.laweekly.com/2012-10-18/news/reggie-cole-obie-anthony-innocence-project-murders/ |
Information Source 3: |
"L.A. to pay $5.2 million in wrongful imprisonment case, By Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-wrongful-settlement-payouts-20170118-story.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Deal reached in assault case against man whose murder conviction was dismissed after 16 years in prison, By James Queally (Reporter), Los Angeles Times, March 10, 2017" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-reggie-cole-plea-deal-20170310-story.html |
Information Source 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org