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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
25 years to life imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
20 |
Year Crime: |
1997 |
Year Convicted: |
1998 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Erie |
City of Crime: |
Buffalo |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Cory L. Epps was wrongly convicted in June 1998 of murder in a road rage incident in Buffalo, New York at 4:15 a.m. on May 26, 1997. Epps was arrested on July 30, 1997. Epps' prosecution was based on testimony of an eyewitness that she saw Cory Epps shoot Tameka Means after a road rage incident at East Delavan Avenue and Chelsea Place in Buffalo. The witness was sitting next to Means and she testified that she saw Epps get out of a car and shoot Means in the face. The prosecution had no evidence corroborating the witnesses identification. Epps' alibi defense was the witness misidentified him because at the time of the crime he and his wife Jerrihia Epps were eating an early-morning meal at a Perkins restaurant, and they had a receipt from Perkins proving they had eaten there that morning. However, when police questioned restaurant employees they couldn't positively remember seeing Epps and his wife. After his conviction by a jury Epps was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. During his sentencing hearing Epps, the father of three children, told the judge: "I know I didn't kill her. I feel sorry for her family, but I didn't do it. I had no reason to kill her. The Lord knows that I didn't do it and a lot of people know I couldn't commit this crime." Epps' direct appeal was denied in 2000. A post-investigation of Epps case begun in 2010 by the Exoneration Project discovered that another suspect looked eerily similar to Epps. Based on the new evidence the Erie County DA's Office began a reinvestigation of Epps case in early 2017. Epps filed a post-conviction motion for a new trial based on the new evidence that the eyewitness had misidentified Epps. The motion was not opposed by the DA's Office, and it was granted on November 30, 2017 by Erie County Court Judge James Barnesi based on the new evidence he had been misidentified. Epps was released at about 12:30 p.m. on December 1, 2017 after more than 20 years in custody. After Epps was released Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn told reporters that the other suspect, who is currently imprisoned for a homicide conviction in another case, was under investigation for Means' murder. He also said their investigation found no evidence of improper actions by the prosecutors or Buffalo Police homicide detectives who worked on the case in 1997 and 1998. He said: "There was no improper conduct. They had an eyewitness who was literally sitting next to the victim" when she was killed. Jerrihia Epps told the Buffalo News after her husband's release: "We were eating at Perkins when all this happened." She said the eyewitness didn't know her husband. "I just think it was a simple case of mistaken identity."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
Honest misidentification of Epps by an eyewitness. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Epps filed a post-conviction motion for a new trial based on the new evidence that the eyewitness had misidentified Epps. The motion was not opposed by the DA's Office, and it was granted on November 30, 2017, based on the new evidence he had been misidentified." |
Defendant Aided By: |
New York attorneys Glenn Garber and Rebecca Freedman with the Exoneration Project. |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
26 |
Age When Released: |
46 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Wrongly convicted Buffalo man seeks to get his 'life back' after 2 decades in prison, By Dan Herbeck and Maki Becker (Staff), The Buffalo News, December 1, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://buffalonews.com/2017/12/01/wrongly-convicted-buffalo-man-seeks-to-get-his-life-back-after-2-decades-in-prison/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Man Accused in 'Road Rage' Killing, By Staff, The Buffalo News, August 8, 1997" |
Information Location 2: |
http://buffalonews.com/1997/08/09/man-accused-in-road-rage-killing/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org