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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Second Degree Murder - Aiding and Abetting |
Sentence: |
10 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
5.42 |
Year Crime: |
1985 |
Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Nebraska |
County or Region of Crime: |
Gage |
City of Crime: |
Beatrice |
Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"James Dean aka James L. Dean was one of six co-defendants known as the Beatrice Six. Joseph White was wrongly convicted in 1989 of first-degree murder in the February 1985 rape and murder of 68-year-old Helen Wilson. The prosecution's case was based on the testimony of the five co-defendants, because there was no physical or forensic evidence linking any of the six accused people to the crime. White was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Co-defendant Thomas Winslow pled no contest to aiding and abetting second-degree murder, although he claimed to have no memory of the day of the murder. Winslow was sentenced to 10 to 50 years in prison. Ada JoAnn Taylor pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison after testifying at White's trial that she smothered the woman while first White and then Winslow raped her. The other three co-defendants, James Dean, Kathy Gonzalez and Debra Shelden all pled guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and were sentenced to 10 years in prison each. Dean, Gonzalez and Shelden were all released in the fall of 1994. In the summer of 2008 White and co-defendant Thomas Winslow were granted a motion for DNA testing of the assailants blood and semen. The results excluded White and Winslow. Additional DNA tests on additional evidence confirmed the first batch of tests, and excluded all six defendants. White filed a motion for a new trial based on the new exculpatory DNA evidence, and his motion was granted on October 15, 2008, and he was released on a personal recognizance bond later that day. Winslow was immediaely scheduled for resentencing and two days later, on October 17, 2008, he was resentenced to time served and released. White was the first person exonerated by DNA testing in Nebraska. On November 7, 2008 Nebraska's Attorney General Jon Bruning announced that a joint state and local reinvestigation of the case determined that Bruce Allen Smith committed the crime by himself. Publicly acknowledging that the six co-defendants were innocent, Nebraska's Attorney General arranged for an expedited parole hearing so that Taylor could be released. Three days later, on November 10, Taylor was released on parole. The AG's office announced it would be seeking the pardoning of the five convicted defendants who took plea agreements. Joseph White's conviction was overturned, so on January 26, 2009 the other five were granted a pardon based on their actual innocence by the unanimous vote of Nebraska's State Board of Pardons. On September 20, 2012 Ada Taylor was awarded $500,000 compensation and James Dean was awarded $300,000 compensation by Gage County Judge Daniel E. Bryan Jr. to resolve their lawsuits under the Nebraska Claims for Wrongful Conviction and Imprisonment Act of 2009. The Attorney General's Office vigorously opposed Taylor and Dean's lawsuit during the five day hearing from Sept. 10 to 14, 2012, arguing that they contributed to the convictions of themselves and their co-defendants by falsely confessing. The six co-defendants filed federal civil rights lawsuits that were consolidated for trial, that named as the primary defendants: Gage County; Sheriff's Deputy Burt Searcey who led the investigation; and Dr. Wayne Price, a psychologist and reserve deputy. On July 6, 2016 a federal court jury in Lincoln, Nebraska ruled that Gage County, and Searcey and Price individually, owe the six a total of $28,105,000 in damages: $7.3 million each to Tom Winslow, JoAnn Taylor and the Joseph White's estate, who spent almost 20 years in prison; $2,190,000 each to James Dean and Kathy Gonzalez, who spent about 5 years in prison; and $1,825,000 to Debra Shelden, who served less than 5 years." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Falsely confessed to being involved in the murder after being threatened with the death penalty if they went to trial and were convicted of first-degree murder. |
Innocence Proved By: |
The Nebraska AG's office announced in November 2008 that it would seek pardon's for the five convicted defendants who took plea agreements. |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$2,490,000 total. $300,000 (State of Nebraska, Sept. 20, 2012) and $2,190,000 (Gage County, July 2016)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
25 |
Age When Released: |
30 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Jury awards $28.1 million in Beatrice 6 case, By Lori Pilger (Staff), Lincoln Journal Star, July 6, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/jury-awards-million-in-beatrice-case/article_ec6b4cf9-1591-5b98-8357-825676e8c5c1.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Helen Wilson’s killer identified, By Joelyn Hansen (staff writer), Beatrice Daily Sun (Beatrice, NE), November 8, 2008" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.beatricedailysun.com/articles/2008/11/08/news/local/doc4915a0e30b8c0247731595.txt |
Information Source 3: |
"Pardons granted to five in murder they didn't commit, by Paul Hammel (staff), Omaha World-Herald, January 27, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10548085 |
Information Source 4: |
"Nebraska to pay $300K to defendant wrongly convicted in Beatrice 6 case, By Joe Duggan (Staff writer), World-Herald (Omaha, Neb.), December 17, 2014" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/nebraska-to-pay-k-to-defendant-wrongly-convicted-in-beatrice/article_750ef530-860d-11e4-bdb7-efa0091171ca.html |
Information Source 5: |
"Two of Beatrice 6 given $800K, By Jonathan Edwards (Staff writer), Lincoln Journal Star, Sep 20, 2012" |
Information Location 5: |
http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-of-beatrice-given-k/article_5dafeb3e-9059-5a4b-927a-2a1b3407c531.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org