Gary Drinkard

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	8
Year Crime:	1993
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	2001
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Alabama
County or Region of Crime:	Morgan
City of Crime:	Decatur
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Gary Drinkard was wrongly convicted in 1995 for the 1993 robbery and murder of a 65-year-old automotive junk dealer in Decatur, Alabama, Gary Drinkard’s conviction was based on the testimony of his half-sister, who faced charges in an unrelated robbery, who had all charges against her dismissed in exchange for her testimony. Her common-law husband was facing some of the same charges as Gary’s half-sister, and he also testified Gary committed the murder. Gary Drinkard was sentenced to death. In 2000 the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Drinkard's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial. His new defense team invested hundreds of hours preparing for his second trial in 2001, where they proved that Mr. Drinkard was at home at the time the crime was committed. He was acquitted on May 25, 2001."
Conviction Caused By:	Prosecutorial misconduct and concealment of exonerating evidence.
Innocence Proved By:	In 2000 the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Drinkard's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Drinkard was acquitted after his retrial in 1991.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Gary drinkard, Speaker Biography, Witness To Innocence website"
Information Location 1:	http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/speaker_bio_drinkard.html
Information Source 2:	Death Penalty Information Center
Information Location 2:	http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html
Information Source 3:	"Alabama's Exonerated, Equal Justice Initiative"
Information Location 3:	http://www.eji.org/eji/files/alabamasexonerated.pdf
Information Source 4:
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Gary Drinkard

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

8

Year Crime:

1993

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

2001

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Alabama

County or Region of Crime:

Morgan

City of Crime:

Decatur

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecutorial misconduct and concealment of exonerating evidence.

Innocence Proved By:

In 2000 the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Drinkard's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Drinkard was acquitted after his retrial in 1991.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Gary drinkard, Speaker Biography, Witness To Innocence website"

Information Location 1:

http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/speaker_bio_drinkard.html

Information Source 2:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 2:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html

Information Source 3:

"Alabama's Exonerated, Equal Justice Initiative"

Information Location 3:

http://www.eji.org/eji/files/alabamasexonerated.pdf

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: