Sedrick Courtney

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Charge:	Robbery (includes armed robbery)
Sentence:	30 yrs
Years Imprisoned:	16
Year Crime:	1995
Year Convicted:	1996
Year Cleared:	2012
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Oklahoma
County or Region of Crime:	Tulsa
City of Crime:	Tulsa
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Sedrick Courtney was wrongly convicted in 1996 of the April 6, 1996 armed robbery and burglary of Shemita Greer in her Tulsa, Oklahoma apartment by two men who wore ski masks. Greer was beaten and robbed of almost $400 in cash. Courtney lived in the apartment complex and the woman identified him as one of her assailants. Greer told detectives that she recognized Courtner because of his voice and that for a brief moment the taller of her two assailants lifted the ski mask he was wearing. His conviction was based on her identification, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Courtney was released on parole in June 2011 after serving more than 15 years in prison. The two ski masks were found outside the apartment, and in September 2011 slides of the hairs recovered from the two ski masks were discovered by the Tulsa Police Department. DNA testing of the hairs excluded Courtney. His conviction was vacated and the charges dismissed on July 19, 2012. The trial court denied Courtney's request to make a determination of his actual innocence, which was required for him to make a claim under Oklahoma's wrongful conviction compensation statute. Courtney appealed, and on July 2, 2013 the Oklahoma Supreme Court directed the trial court to determine Courtney's "actual innocence." After the trial court determined Courtney was "actually innocent," the State of Oklahoma paid him compensation of $175,000. In June 2014 Courtney filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Tulsa and several individuals employed by the Tulsa Police Department and the Tulsa Police Department Forensic Laboratory during Courtney’s criminal investigation, arrest and conviction. The lawsuit alleged that Courtney was misidentified as one of the culprits through falsified statements, bad policing and fabrication of evidence, and the defendants then obstructed his exoneration efforts while he was in prison and on parole. In October 2015 the the City of Tulsa agreed to settle the suit by paying $8 million to Courtney. On November 25, 2015 U.S. District Judge Terence Kern signed off the settlement agreement. Courney was represented in his civil rights lawsuit by the New York City law firm of Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck, & Nick Brustin (NS&B)."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim.
Innocence Proved By:	"Courtney's conviction was vacated and the charges dismissed on July 19, 2012."
Defendant Aided By:	"Innocence Project NY (Criminal case). Courney was represented in his civil rights lawsuit by the New York City law firm of Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck, & Nick Brustin (NS&B)."
Compensation Awarded:	"$8.175 million total. $175,000 (State of Oklahoma, 2014) and $8 mil. (City of Tulsa, Nov. 2015)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	23
Age When Released:	39
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Seeking payback, By Christian Betancourt (Staff reporter), The Duncan Banner, September 29, 2015"
Information Location 1:	http://www.duncanbanner.com/news/seeking-payback/article_0855ca24-6648-11e5-9d7d-836943375b7e.html
Information Source 2:	"Tulsa To Pay $8 Million To Man Wrongfully Imprisoned For 16 Years, By Heide Brandes (Reuters), Times Record, October 23, 2015"
Information Location 2:	http://swtimes.com/news/state-news/tulsa-pay-8-million-man-wrongfully-imprisoned-16-years
Information Source 3:	"Courtney v. State of Oklahoma, 2013 OK 64 (Okla. Sup. Ct., 7/02/2013) (Remanding for determination of Courtney's "actual innocence.")"
Information Location 3:	http://law.justia.com/cases/oklahoma/supreme-court/2013/111121.html
Information Source 4:	"Judge gives final OK to $8 million payment to wrongly convicted man, By Curtis Killman (Tulsa World), The Oklahoman, November 27, 2015"
Information Location 4:	http://newsok.com/article/5463119
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Sedrick Courtney

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

30 yrs

Years Imprisoned:

16

Year Crime:

1995

Year Convicted:

1996

Year Cleared:

2012

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Oklahoma

County or Region of Crime:

Tulsa

City of Crime:

Tulsa

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

"Courtney's conviction was vacated and the charges dismissed on July 19, 2012."

Defendant Aided By:

"Innocence Project NY (Criminal case). Courney was represented in his civil rights lawsuit by the New York City law firm of Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck, & Nick Brustin (NS&B)."

Compensation Awarded:

"$8.175 million total. $175,000 (State of Oklahoma, 2014) and $8 mil. (City of Tulsa, Nov. 2015)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

23

Age When Released:

39

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Seeking payback, By Christian Betancourt (Staff reporter), The Duncan Banner, September 29, 2015"

Information Location 1:

http://www.duncanbanner.com/news/seeking-payback/article_0855ca24-6648-11e5-9d7d-836943375b7e.html

Information Source 2:

"Tulsa To Pay $8 Million To Man Wrongfully Imprisoned For 16 Years, By Heide Brandes (Reuters), Times Record, October 23, 2015"

Information Location 2:

http://swtimes.com/news/state-news/tulsa-pay-8-million-man-wrongfully-imprisoned-16-years

Information Source 3:

"Courtney v. State of Oklahoma, 2013 OK 64 (Okla. Sup. Ct., 7/02/2013) (Remanding for determination of Courtney's "actual innocence.")"

Information Location 3:

http://law.justia.com/cases/oklahoma/supreme-court/2013/111121.html

Information Source 4:

"Judge gives final OK to $8 million payment to wrongly convicted man, By Curtis Killman (Tulsa World), The Oklahoman, November 27, 2015"

Information Location 4:

http://newsok.com/article/5463119

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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