Joel Fowler

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	25 years to life
Years Imprisoned:	6.67
Year Crime:	2008
Year Convicted:	2009
Year Cleared:	2015
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Kings
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Joel Fowler was wrongly convicted on November 9, 2009 of murdering a 24 year old man in Brooklyn, New York in 2008. Fowler's conviction was based on the testimony of a prosecution witness and his confession to the crime, that he recanted as coered. On November 4, 2009 Judge Vincent M. Del Giudice denied Fowler's motion to suppress his confession as coerced. After his conviction by a jury Fowler was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. On August 4, 2015 the charges were dismissed against Fowler and he was released immediately after a motion to dismiss based on new evidence of his innocence filed by the Kings County DA's Office was granted. The DA's Office acknowledged that Fowler was no where near the crime scene, and his conviction was based on a confluence of factors that included: unrelable testimony by a prosecution witness, a false confession, and ineffective assistance of Fowler's trial counsel. In 2016 Fowler filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against New York City and three NYPD detectives, alleging taht witnesses were forced to identify him as the murderer. On November 14, 2017 it was announced that Fowler and the city had agreed to settle his lawsuit for $2.5 million."
Conviction Caused By:	"Unrelable testimony, a false confession, and ineffective assistance of Fowler's trial counsel."
Innocence Proved By:	"On August 4, 2015 the charges were dismissed against Fowler and he was released immediately after a motion to dismiss based on new evidence of his evidence that was supported by the Kings County DA's Office was granted."
Defendant Aided By:	Kings County Conviction Integrity Unit and New York attorney's Joel Rudin and Earl Ward who represented him in his civil lawsuit.
Compensation Awarded:	"$2,500,000 (New York City, 11-14-2017)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	17
Age When Released:	24
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Exoneration is 14th in Brooklyn since last year, By Associated Press, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 5, 2015"
Information Location 1:	http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/8/5/exoneration-14th-brooklyn-last-year
Information Source 2:	"City to pay $2.5M to settle suit from ex-Crips member wrongfully convicted of murder, By Andrew Keshner, New York Daily News, November 14, 2017"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-pay-2-5m-settle-suit-exonerated-ex-crips-member-article-1.3632807
Information Source 3:	"People v Fowler, 2009 NY Slip Op 52239(U), [25 Misc 3d 1222(A)] (Supreme Court, Kings County, Nov. 4, 2009) (Denying Fowler's pretrial motion to suppress his coercion that he asserted was coerced.)"
Information Location 3:	https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2009/2009-52239.html
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Joel Fowler

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

25 years to life

Years Imprisoned:

6.67

Year Crime:

2008

Year Convicted:

2009

Year Cleared:

2015

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Kings

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Unrelable testimony, a false confession, and ineffective assistance of Fowler's trial counsel."

Innocence Proved By:

"On August 4, 2015 the charges were dismissed against Fowler and he was released immediately after a motion to dismiss based on new evidence of his evidence that was supported by the Kings County DA's Office was granted."

Defendant Aided By:

Kings County Conviction Integrity Unit and New York attorney's Joel Rudin and Earl Ward who represented him in his civil lawsuit.

Compensation Awarded:

"$2,500,000 (New York City, 11-14-2017)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

17

Age When Released:

24

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Exoneration is 14th in Brooklyn since last year, By Associated Press, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 5, 2015"

Information Location 1:

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/8/5/exoneration-14th-brooklyn-last-year

Information Source 2:

"City to pay $2.5M to settle suit from ex-Crips member wrongfully convicted of murder, By Andrew Keshner, New York Daily News, November 14, 2017"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-pay-2-5m-settle-suit-exonerated-ex-crips-member-article-1.3632807

Information Source 3:

"People v Fowler, 2009 NY Slip Op 52239(U), [25 Misc 3d 1222(A)] (Supreme Court, Kings County, Nov. 4, 2009) (Denying Fowler's pretrial motion to suppress his coercion that he asserted was coerced.)"

Information Location 3:

https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2009/2009-52239.html

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