Ronald Cotton

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	Rape and Burglary
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment + 54 years
Years Imprisoned:	11
Year Crime:	1984
Year Convicted:	1985
Year Cleared:	1995
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	North Carolina
County or Region of Crime:	Alamance
City of Crime:	Burlington
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Ronald Cotton was wrongly convicted twice of rape based on his erroneous identification by the victim. Ronald Cotton was first convicted in 1985 and after a retrial in 1987. He was exonerated in 1995 by DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial. A book about the case, "Picking Cotton" was published In March 2009. The book was written by Cotton and the woman who erroneously identified him, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino. The two became friends after his release, and they have appeared at several events to publicize the unreliability of eyewitness evidence."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous identification by the victim.
Innocence Proved By:	DNA testing of evidence excluded Ronald Cotton as the woman's assailant.
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	22
Age When Released:	33
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	Innocence Project database
Information Location 1:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=06
Information Source 2:	"Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence after Trial, by Edward Connors, Thomas Lundregan, Neal Miller and Tom McEwen (US DOJ, National Institute of Justice, June 1996)"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:	"Picking Cotton - Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo (St. Martin's Press 2009)"
Book Information:	http://us.macmillan.com/pickingcotton
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Ronald Cotton

Charge:

Rape and Burglary

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment + 54 years

Years Imprisoned:

11

Year Crime:

1984

Year Convicted:

1985

Year Cleared:

1995

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

North Carolina

County or Region of Crime:

Alamance

City of Crime:

Burlington

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous identification by the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

DNA testing of evidence excluded Ronald Cotton as the woman's assailant.

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

22

Age When Released:

33

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

Innocence Project database

Information Location 1:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=06

Information Source 2:

"Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence after Trial, by Edward Connors, Thomas Lundregan, Neal Miller and Tom McEwen (US DOJ, National Institute of Justice, June 1996)"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"Picking Cotton - Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo (St. Martin's Press 2009)"

Book Information:

http://us.macmillan.com/pickingcotton

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: