William Dillon

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	27
Year Crime:	1981
Year Convicted:	1981
Year Cleared:	2008
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Florida
County or Region of Crime:	Brevard
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"William Dillon was wrongly convicted of murder in 1981 and sentenced to life in prison. William "Bill" Dillon's conviction was based on the testimony of his ex-girlfriend who recanted her testimony several weeks later, and the testimony of John Preston about his tracking dog, a German Shepherd named "Harass 2". Preston testified that based on a bloody t-shirt recovered from the crime scene, Harrass 2 detected Dillon's scent at the place where the body of James Dvorak was found, and the dog traced Dillon's scent to places he had been and items he had touched. The tracking by Harass 2 was done eight days after Dvorak's body was discovered and after a hurricane went through the area. William Dillon was sentenced to life in prison. Three years after Dillon's conviction, in 1984, a judge ordered a test to ascertain the accuracy of an identification by Harass 2. The test established that Harrass 2 could not follow a scent for even one hundred feet, and could only track a scent successfully if Preston had prior knowledge of the case being investigated. The State of Florida did not investigate any cases in which Preston and Harass 2 had played a role in a conviction, and Preston diedin 1987. In 2006 Dillon learned that Preston and his dog had been discredited in 1984. He contacted the Florida Innocence Project, which was successful in obaining a court order for DNA testing of the bloody t-shirt recovered from the crime scene. The DNA testing in the fall of 2008 excluded Dillon's as being on the t-shirt. The DNA of the victim and two other unidentified people was on the t-shirt. Dillon's motion for a new trial was granted and he was released on $100,000 bond on November 18, 2008. The murder charge was dismissed by the prosecutor's office on December 10, 2008. Dillon was wrongly imprisoned for more than 27 years. In 2012 the Florida Legislature approved a claim bill that awarded Dillon $1.35 million in compensation -- $50,000 for each year of his wrongful imprisonment."
Conviction Caused By:	"Erroneous testimony by eyewitness who recanted her testimony two weeks after Dillon's trial, and perjurious testimony by dog tracker John Preston."
Innocence Proved By:	"DNA testing in the fall of 2008 excluded Dillon as the assailant. Dillon was released on bond in November 2008, and the murder charge was dismissed by the prosecutor's office on December 10, 2008."
Defendant Aided By:	The Innocence Project of Florida
Compensation Awarded:	"$1.35 million (State of Florida, 2012)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	22
Age When Released:	49
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Dillon to seek compensation from state for 27 years in jail, By Satta Sarmah, Orlando Sentinel, December 11, 2008"
Information Location 1:	"http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-dillon-compensation-121108,0,5733852.story"
Information Source 2:	"Dillon released from prison, By John A. Torres, Florida Today, November 18, 2008"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"Man in Prison for 27 Years Because of Faulty Scent-Tracking Dog, Digital Journal, July 31, 2009"
Information Location 3:	http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/276752
Information Source 4:	"Bipartisan Effort Underway To Compensate Exonerated Inmates With Prior Record, By Sascha Cordner, WFSU radio (Tallahassee, FL), Nov. 13, 2015"
Information Location 4:	http://news.wfsu.org/post/bipartisan-effort-underway-compensate-exonerated-inmates-prior-record
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William Dillon

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

27

Year Crime:

1981

Year Convicted:

1981

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Florida

County or Region of Crime:

Brevard

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Erroneous testimony by eyewitness who recanted her testimony two weeks after Dillon's trial, and perjurious testimony by dog tracker John Preston."

Innocence Proved By:

"DNA testing in the fall of 2008 excluded Dillon as the assailant. Dillon was released on bond in November 2008, and the murder charge was dismissed by the prosecutor's office on December 10, 2008."

Defendant Aided By:

The Innocence Project of Florida

Compensation Awarded:

"$1.35 million (State of Florida, 2012)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

22

Age When Released:

49

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Dillon to seek compensation from state for 27 years in jail, By Satta Sarmah, Orlando Sentinel, December 11, 2008"

Information Location 1:

"http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-dillon-compensation-121108,0,5733852.story"

Information Source 2:

"Dillon released from prison, By John A. Torres, Florida Today, November 18, 2008"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Man in Prison for 27 Years Because of Faulty Scent-Tracking Dog, Digital Journal, July 31, 2009"

Information Location 3:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/276752

Information Source 4:

"Bipartisan Effort Underway To Compensate Exonerated Inmates With Prior Record, By Sascha Cordner, WFSU radio (Tallahassee, FL), Nov. 13, 2015"

Information Location 4:

http://news.wfsu.org/post/bipartisan-effort-underway-compensate-exonerated-inmates-prior-record

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

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