Rodricus C. Crawford

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:	2012
Year Convicted:	2013
Year Cleared:	2017
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Louisiana
County or Region of Crime:	Caddo
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Rodricus C. Crawford was wrongly convicted in 2013 of aggravated murder in the death of his infant son in 2012. The prosecution's case was based on expert testimony that his son died from suffocation. The trial judge denied Crawford's Batson challenge that the prosecutor was using peremptory challenges to exclude Black prospective jurors for racial reasons (Crawford was Black). Crawford's medical defense was that his son death was from natural causes, because pneumonia and bacteria in his blood that indicated sepsis. After his conviction by a jury Rodricus Crawford was sentenced to death. Crawford appealed. On November 16, 2016 the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed Crawford's conviction and ordered a new trial based on the trial judge's prejudicial error of denying Crawford's Batson challenge of a racially biased jury selection process. On April 20, 2017 the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office motion was granted to dismiss the charges against Crawford based on the DA's admission that there was insufficient evidence to prove his son was murdered, and didn't in fact die from natural causes."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous expert opinion as to the cause of death of Crawford's son.
Innocence Proved By:	"On April 20, 2017 the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office motion to dismiss the charges against Crawford was granted."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	23
Age When Released:	28
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Louisiana Man Who Spent Three Years on Death Row Has Murder Charge Dismissed, By Jonah Engel Bromwich, April 20, 2017"
Information Location 1:	https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/us/louisiana-death-row-inmate.html?_r=0
Information Source 2:	"State v. Crawford, No. 2014-KA-2153 (La. Supreme Ct, 11-16-2016) (Reversing conviction and ordering new trial based on trial judges error of denying Batson challenge to racially biased jury selection by the prosecution.)"
Information Location 2:	"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5629317148110849624&q=Rodricus+Crawford+&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"
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Rodricus C. Crawford

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

2012

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2017

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Louisiana

County or Region of Crime:

Caddo

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous expert opinion as to the cause of death of Crawford's son.

Innocence Proved By:

"On April 20, 2017 the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office motion to dismiss the charges against Crawford was granted."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

23

Age When Released:

28

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Louisiana Man Who Spent Three Years on Death Row Has Murder Charge Dismissed, By Jonah Engel Bromwich, April 20, 2017"

Information Location 1:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/us/louisiana-death-row-inmate.html?_r=0

Information Source 2:

"State v. Crawford, No. 2014-KA-2153 (La. Supreme Ct, 11-16-2016) (Reversing conviction and ordering new trial based on trial judges error of denying Batson challenge to racially biased jury selection by the prosecution.)"

Information Location 2:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5629317148110849624&q=Rodricus+Crawford+&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"

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