Yancy Douglas

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	16
Year Crime:	1993
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	2009
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Oklahoma
County or Region of Crime:	Oklahoma
City of Crime:	Oklahoma City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Yancy Douglas was co-defendant of Paris Powell. Both men were wrongly convicted of a June 1993 drive-by shooting murder in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The prosecution of Douglas and Powell was based on the "eyewitness" testimony of a teenager. Yancy Douglas was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death. Powell was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death. The prosecution didn't disclose to Douglas and Powell that the eyewitness had told the police that he didn't see who committed the shooting. On January 31, 2006 U.S. District Court Judge Robin Cauthron granted the men's habeas corpus petition and overturned their convictions on the ground that the failure to disclose was a prejudicial Brady violation and if the jury had known of the witness statement it likely would have changed their verdict. In 2009 the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the granting of the habeas. On October 2, 2009 both men were released when the prosecution dismissed the charges on the basis the key witness was unreliable. The men were incarcerated for more than 16 years from the time of their arrest, and spent almost 15 years on death row."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification by the State's key witness.
Innocence Proved By:	"On October 2, 2009 Yancy Douglas and Paris Powell were released when the prosecution dismissed the charges on the basis the key witness was unreliable."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	19
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"2 Okla. men released from prison after spending nearly 15 years on death row for murder, By Sean Murphy, KMYQ Channel 2 (Oklahoma City, OK), October 5, 2009"
Information Location 1:	"http://www.myq2.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-inmates-freed,0,3568099.story"
Information Source 2:	"Powell v Mullin, No. CIV-00-1859-C (USDC WDOK, 01-31-2006) - Granting habas corpus petition"
Information Location 2:	http://ocdw.com/pdf/20060206/Powell.pdf
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Yancy Douglas

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

16

Year Crime:

1993

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

2009

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Oklahoma

County or Region of Crime:

Oklahoma

City of Crime:

Oklahoma City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification by the State's key witness.

Innocence Proved By:

"On October 2, 2009 Yancy Douglas and Paris Powell were released when the prosecution dismissed the charges on the basis the key witness was unreliable."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

19

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"2 Okla. men released from prison after spending nearly 15 years on death row for murder, By Sean Murphy, KMYQ Channel 2 (Oklahoma City, OK), October 5, 2009"

Information Location 1:

"http://www.myq2.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-inmates-freed,0,3568099.story"

Information Source 2:

"Powell v Mullin, No. CIV-00-1859-C (USDC WDOK, 01-31-2006) - Granting habas corpus petition"

Information Location 2:

http://ocdw.com/pdf/20060206/Powell.pdf

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