Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Charles Dabbs

 

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

12.5 to 20 years

Years Imprisoned:

7

Year Crime:

1982

Year Convicted:

1984

Year Cleared:

1991

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Westchester

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Charles Dabbs was wrongly convicted in 1984 of raping a woman in Westchester County, New York. Dabbs conviction by a jury was based on the victim's eyewitness testimony he was her assailant. Dabbs was released on August 1, 1991 after post-conviction DNA testing performed on semen found on the rape victim's underwear excluded him as her attacker. The test proved the victim had erroneously identified Dabbs as the man who had raped her in 1982. Centurion Ministries spearheaded the drive to free Mr. Dabbs, and it bore the cost of the DNA testing since it was the only way he could be exonerated of the 1982 rape."

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error by the rape victim.

Innocence Proved By:

Post-conviction DNA testing.

Defendant Aided By:

Centurion Ministries (lead) and Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

29

Age When Released:

36

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

""DNA Frees Convicted Rapist After 9 Years," Lisa Foderaro, The New York Times, August 1, 1991."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

Centurion Ministries website

Information Location 2:

http://www.centurionministries.org/cases.html

Information Source 3:

Innocence Project database

Information Location 3:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=14

Information Source 4:

"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 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

"Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8-1-91"

Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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