Freddie Lee Gaines

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Charge:	Second Degree Murder
Sentence:	30 years
Years Imprisoned:	13
Year Crime:	1972
Year Convicted:	1974
Year Cleared:	1991
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Alabama
County or Region of Crime:	Jefferson
City of Crime:	Birmingham
Result:	Judicially Exonerated and Later Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Freddie Lee Gaines was wrongly convicted in October 1974 of second-degree murder related to the shooting death of two people during the robbery of their apartment in Birmingham, Alabama in 1972. A third person, a woman, survived and after telling police she couldn't remember details of the crime, she later identified Gaines as the shooter. Freddie Gaines was tried separately for the murders. He was convicted by a jury for the death of Mary Wright, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. However, two years later he was acquitted by a jury in the death of Johnnie Swanson, based on the same evidence that had resulted in his conviction for Wright's murder. Gaines was released on parole in July 1985. Larry Dennis Cohen was arrested in August 1990 on drug charges, and during his interrogation he gave a credible confession to the murders of Wright and Swanson. The Jefferson County District Attorney petitioned to vacate Gaines conviction and dismiss the charges based on the new evidence supporting his innocence, which was granted in February 1991. The Alabama legislature authorized the payment of $1 million compensation to Gaines. He was granted a full pardon by Alabama in February 2005."
Conviction Caused By:	Eyewitness error.
Innocence Proved By:	"The Jefferson County District Attorney petitioned to vacate Gaines conviction and dismiss the charges based on the new evidence supporting his innocence, which was granted in February 1991."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$1 million (State of Alabama, 1996)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	22
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, HugoAdam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1996 pb ed. with new forward, 305 ( © 1992)."
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Freddie Lee Gaines

Charge:

Second Degree Murder

Sentence:

30 years

Years Imprisoned:

13

Year Crime:

1972

Year Convicted:

1974

Year Cleared:

1991

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Alabama

County or Region of Crime:

Jefferson

City of Crime:

Birmingham

Result:

Judicially Exonerated and Later Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error.

Innocence Proved By:

"The Jefferson County District Attorney petitioned to vacate Gaines conviction and dismiss the charges based on the new evidence supporting his innocence, which was granted in February 1991."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$1 million (State of Alabama, 1996)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

22

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, HugoAdam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1996 pb ed. with new forward, 305 ( © 1992)."

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Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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