Stephan Cowans

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Charge:	Attempted Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	30-45 yrs
Years Imprisoned:	6.5
Year Crime:	1997
Year Convicted:	1998
Year Cleared:	2004
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Suffolk
City of Crime:	Boston
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Stephan Cowans was wrongly convicted in 1998 of assault with intent to commit murder based in part on a faulty fingerprint analysis. In 2004 DNA testing of the sweatshirt worn by the assailant excluded Cowans. The Suffolk County DA's Office then had the fingerprint reanalyzed and discovered that it wasn't made by Cowans. The charges against Cowans were dismissed and he was released on January 23, 2004 after being wrongly imprisoned for 6-1/2 years. Stephan Cowans settled his federal civil rights lawsuit against City of Boston and several city employees for $3,2000,000 in August 2006. Cowans was also awarded $500,000 compensation by the State of Massachusetts in 2006. Cowans was 37 when on October 25, 2007 he was found shot to death after a fight with someone he let into his home in Randolph, Massachusetts ."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous fingerprint identification by the prosecution's forensic expert.
Innocence Proved By:	"Indictment dismissed by Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, MA on February 2, 2004."
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:	"$3,700,00 total. $3,200,000 (City of Boston, Aug. 2006) and $500,000 (State of Massachusetts, 2006)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	26
Age When Released:	33
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Boston agrees to pay $3_2 million to stephan cowans, by David S. Bernstein, The Phoenix (Boston, MA), August 10, 2006"
Information Location 1:	http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid20022.aspx
Information Source 2:	Innocence Project Database
Information Location 2:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=141
Information Source 3:	"DA: Randolph man slain in struggle, By Andrew Lightman (Staff writer), Patriot Ledger, October 27, 2007"
Information Location 3:	http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20071027/NEWS/310279826
Information Source 4:	"Wrongful Conviction Cases Under G.L. C. 258D As Of August 1, 2016"
Information Location 4:	https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3034698/Wrongful-Conviction-Compensation-Cases.pdf
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Stephan Cowans

Charge:

Attempted Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

30-45 yrs

Years Imprisoned:

6.5

Year Crime:

1997

Year Convicted:

1998

Year Cleared:

2004

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Boston

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous fingerprint identification by the prosecution's forensic expert.

Innocence Proved By:

"Indictment dismissed by Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, MA on February 2, 2004."

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

"$3,700,00 total. $3,200,000 (City of Boston, Aug. 2006) and $500,000 (State of Massachusetts, 2006)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

26

Age When Released:

33

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Boston agrees to pay $3_2 million to stephan cowans, by David S. Bernstein, The Phoenix (Boston, MA), August 10, 2006"

Information Location 1:

http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid20022.aspx

Information Source 2:

Innocence Project Database

Information Location 2:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=141

Information Source 3:

"DA: Randolph man slain in struggle, By Andrew Lightman (Staff writer), Patriot Ledger, October 27, 2007"

Information Location 3:

http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20071027/NEWS/310279826

Information Source 4:

"Wrongful Conviction Cases Under G.L. C. 258D As Of August 1, 2016"

Information Location 4:

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3034698/Wrongful-Conviction-Compensation-Cases.pdf

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: