Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Christopher Toby Dowden

 

Charge:

"Sexual Crime Online (e.g., enticing minor in chatroom for sex)"

Sentence:

4 years

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

2011

Year Convicted:

2011

Year Cleared:

2015

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Texas

County or Region of Crime:

Harris

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Christopher Toby Dowden was wrongly convicted on December 19, 2011 of online solicitation of a minor in Harris County, Texas. Dowden pled guilty and was sentenced to four years imprisonment. In 2013 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that in Ex parte Lo, 424 S.W.3d 10 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) that the statute was unconstitutional that Dowden had been convicted of violating. In 2014 Dowden filed a habeas corpus petition under Lo that requesting vacating his conviction based on the Lo decision and his actual innocence. The State didn't oppose his petition, agreeing that he was actually innocent. On August 13, 2014, the Harris County District Court adopted the State's proposed findings and recommended relief be granted. The case then went to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that has jurisdiction for final determination of a habeas proceeding. On October 28, 2015 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Christopher Dowden's habeas corpus petition based on the unconstitutionality of the statute he was convicted of violating. However, the Court ruled that in spite of the State agreeing in the district court that Dowden was actually innocent, his claim did not meet the requirement of Ex parte Elizondo, 947 S.W.2d 202, 206-07 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) that he did not commit the action for which he was convicted -- even if it legally wasn't a criminal act. The Court also ruled that Ex parte Lo was to be applied retroactively."

Conviction Caused By:

Unconstitutional statute.

Innocence Proved By:

"On October 28, 2015 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Christopher Dowden's habeas corpus petition based on the unconstitutionality of the statute he was convicted of violating."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Ex Parte Dowden No. WR-82,103-01 (Tex. Court of Criminal Appeals 10-28-2015) (Granting habeas corpus relief and ordering dismissal of indictment based on unconstitutionality of the statute he was convicted of violating.)"

Information Location 1:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17021568545857373228&q=ex+parte+fournier+2015&hl=en&as_sdt=4,44"

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

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