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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Burglary |
Sentence: |
25 years to life in prison |
Years Imprisoned: |
24 |
Year Crime: |
1989 |
Year Convicted: |
1989 |
Year Cleared: |
2013 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Kings |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Derrick Deacon was wrongly convicted on December 21, 1989 of the April 1989 murder of 16-year-old Anthony Wynn in Brooklyn, New York. Deacon's prosecution was based on the testimony of a witness, Colleen Campbell, who was paid $1,000 for her testimony. After his conviction by a jury Deacon was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. After more than two decades in prison the new evidence was discovered that a Jamaican gangbanger said a fellow gang member was the person who killed Wynn. In addition, Campbell recanted, saying that Deacon was not the person she saw after the shooting fleeing in a stairwell, and that she had been coached to commit perjury during his trial under threat that her children would be taken from her if she didn't cooperate. Deacon filed a motion for a new trial based on the new evidence that was granted on June 20, 2012. Deacon was retried and after deliberating for nine minutes the jury acquitted him on November 18, 2013. In April 2014 Deacon filed a lawsuit for compensation under New York State's wrongful imprisonment statute. Deacon settled that lawsuit in 2015 for $3.9 compensation from the State of New York. On February 17, 2015 Deacon also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York, and NYPD Detectives Darcy Callahan and Trent Turner involved in his prosecution, for violations of his constitutional rights. (Deacon v. City of New York et al., No. 1:2015cv00841 (USDC NY Eastern DC, 2-17-2015)) On November 1, 2016 Derrick Deacon and New York City settled his lawsuit for $6 million." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Perjury by a witness who was paid $1,000 for his testimony." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Deacon was acquitted by a jury on November 18, 2013 after a retrial." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Defense attorneys Glenn Garber and Rebecca Freedman |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$9.9 million total. $3.9 mil. (State of New York, 2015), $6 million (City of New York, 11-1-2016)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
34 |
Age When Released: |
58 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Brooklyn jury acquits man of murder 24 years after he was jailed for the crime, By Oren Yaniv (staff writer), New York Daily News, November 18, 2013" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/brooklyn-jury-acquits-man-murder-24-years-jail-article-1.1521151 |
Information Source 2: |
"Brooklyn man awarded $6M after spending over 24 years in prison wrongfully convicted of murder, By John Marzulli, New York Daily News, Nov. 1, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-man-6m-24-years-wrongfully-prison-article-1.2852913 |
Information Source 3: |
"Man falsely imprisoned 25 years sues state for $25M, By Erin Calabrese and Josh Saul, New York Post, April 14, 2014" |
Information Location 3: |
http://nypost.com/2014/04/14/man-falsely-imprisoned-for-25-years-sues-state-for-25m/ |
Information Source 4: |
"Man sues city after spending 25 years in prison for murder he didn’t commit, By Selim Algar, New York Post, February 18, 2015" |
Information Location 4: |
http://nypost.com/2015/02/18/man-sues-city-after-spending-25-years-in-prison-for-murder-he-didnt-commit/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org