Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
60 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
1975 |
Year Convicted: |
1975 |
Year Cleared: |
1980 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Tennessee |
County or Region of Crime: |
Carter |
City of Crime: |
Elizabethton |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Douglas Forbes was wrongly convicted in 1975 of committing two rapes in Elizabethton, Tennessee. The only evidence against Forbes was his identification by the two victims. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of 50 years and 10 years in prison. The District Attorney said that he regreted that Tennessee didn't have the death penalty for rape. In October 1980 David J. Williams was arrested for suspicion of rape, and he confessed to the rapes Forbes had been convicted of committing, and he provided so many details that there was no question he committed the rapes. Forbes and Williams bore an uncanny resemble to each other. Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander pardoned Forbes on November 24, 1980, and he was immediately released after 5 years of wrongful imprisonment." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victims. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander pardoned Forbes on November 24, 1980, and he was immediately released after 5 years of wrongful imprisonment." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
33 |
Age When Released: |
38 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Wrongly Convicted Man Freed, By Matt Yancey, St Petersburg Independent, November 25, 1980" |
Information Location 1: |
"http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=luMLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eVgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5153,2814737&hl=en" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org