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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Sexual Assault (includes aggravated) |
Sentence: |
30 years to Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
21 |
Year Crime: |
1994 |
Year Convicted: |
1995 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Texas |
County or Region of Crime: |
Tarrant |
City of Crime: |
Fort Worth |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Brian Edward Franklin was wrongly convicted in February 1995 of aggravated sexual assault of B. R., a 13-year-old girl, in Forth Worth, Texas in March 1994. At the time he was accused Brian Franklin was a Forth Worth police officer. Franklin's prosecution was based solely on the accusation of the alleged victim that he raped her in the backyard of her biological father's home. There was no physical evidence or witnesses linking him to the alleged crune, During Franklin's trial B. R. testified she was a virgin when he allegedly raped her. The prosecution presented medical evidence that an examination conducted some weeks after the alleged rape determined there was damage to her genital area. Franklin's alibi defense was he was elsewhere at the time of the alleged crime. After his conviction by a jury, Brian Franklin was sentenced to serve a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. In May 1998 the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office notified Franklin's lawyer that it received information that B.R. stated she had been sexually assaulted by her stepfather from the time she was six years old. Based on the new evidence, Franklin filed a post-conviction habeas corpus petition for a new trial on the basis ofhis actual innocence. The lead prosecutor during Franklin's trial, Rose A. Salinas, signed an affidavit that she no longer believed Franklin was guilty, because she did not know at the time the girl had given the police “false information” about Franklin, and that Franklin did not get a fair trial. The habeas court, after holding an evidentiary hearing, recommended the granting of Franklin's petition on the basis of his actual innocence. On April 10, 2002 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Franklin's writ on the basis his new evidence was not dispositive of his claim of actual innocence because it didn't establish his innocence of the crime by clear and convincing evidence, only that he might be found not guilt by a subsequent jury. Franklin then filed a state habeas corpus petition based on the violation of his right to a fair trial by B.R.'s perjury. He also presented exculpatory alibi evidence that he was elsewhere at the time of the alleged rape. After Judge Wayne Salvant recommended the granting of Franklin's habeas petition, the Texas Court of Criminal appeals granted his petition on April 6, 2016 based on "the complainant's perjured testimony, which also caused other witneses to give false testimony." Franklin was granted he was released on $10,000 bond on May 5, 2016 pending his new trial. During his retrial his accuser again testified he raped her, but she testified about the 11 year molestation by her step-father, and doctor's testified that could have caused the damage to her genital area. On December 16, 2016 a jury acquitted Brian Franklin after his retrial." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by the alleged victim. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 16, 2016 a jury acquitted Brian Franklin after his retrial." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
36 |
Age When Released: |
57 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"After 21 years in prison, Tonawanda native exonerated for rape, By Dan Herbeck, The Buffalo News, December 24, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://buffalonews.com/2016/12/24/21-years-prison-texas-cop-tonawanda-exonerated-rape-didnt-commit/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Ex Parte Brian Edward Franklin, No. WR-44, 521-03 (Tx Ct. of Crim. Appeals, 4-6-2016) (Granting habeas petition based on perjured testimony during his trial by the complainant.)" |
Information Location 2: |
http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/2016/wr-44-521-03.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Ex Parte Brian Edward Franklin, No. 74041 (Tx Ct. of Crim. Appeals, 4-10-2002) (Concuring opinon that Franklin's petition should be denied, but arguing that in Texas a habeas petition should not be allowed based on actual innocence.)" |
Information Location 3: |
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-court-of-criminal-appeals/1000081.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org