Vanessa Gathers

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Charge:	Second Degree Manslaughter & Robbery
Sentence:	15 years
Years Imprisoned:	10
Year Crime:	1991
Year Convicted:	1998
Year Cleared:	2016
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Kings
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Vanessa Gathers was wrongly convicted in 1998 of manslaughter in the death of 71-year-old Michael Shaw who was assaulted and robbed inside his apartment in Brooklyn, New York on November 18, 1991. Shaw died from his injuries six months later, on April 21, 1992. Gathers conviction in 1998, was solely based on her confession, becaues there was no physical, forensic, or eyewitness evidence linking her to the crime. After her conviiction by a jury Gather's was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Gather's appeal was denied. Gather's was paroled on March 2, 2007 after 10 years in custody. During her three parole board hearings she maintained her innocence. Gathers completed her parole in 2012. On February 23, 2016 Gathers conviction was vacated based on an investigation by the Kings County DA's Office that determined her confession, upon which her conviction was based, was false, and it had been coaxed from her by Detective Louis Scarcella, who fed her details of the crime. After the hearing on February 23, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson told reporters, "These wrongful convictions represent a systemic failure, a failure by prosecutors, defense attorneys, by judges, by the system, These wrongful convictions destroy lives, and no matter what happens, Ms. Gathers will not get back those 10 years.” Gathers' was the 17 person to have her conviction vacated since Thompson took office in January 2014."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 23, 2016 Gathers conviction was vacated based on an investigation by the Kings County DA's Office that determined her confession, upon which her conviction was based, was false, and it had been coaxed from her by Detective Louis Scarcella, who fed her details of the crime."
Defendant Aided By:	"Lisa Cahill, a lawyer with Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York, the Legal Aid Society, and the Kings County Conviction Integrity Unit."
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	40
Age When Released:	50
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Manslaughter Conviction for Which Woman Served 10 Years Is Vacated, By Sarah Maslin Nirfeb (Staff writer), The New York Times, Febraury 23, 2016"
Information Location 1:	http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/nyregion/womans-manslaughter-conviction-in-1991-death-to-be-vacated.html?_r=0
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Vanessa Gathers

Charge:

Second Degree Manslaughter & Robbery

Sentence:

15 years

Years Imprisoned:

10

Year Crime:

1991

Year Convicted:

1998

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Kings

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 23, 2016 Gathers conviction was vacated based on an investigation by the Kings County DA's Office that determined her confession, upon which her conviction was based, was false, and it had been coaxed from her by Detective Louis Scarcella, who fed her details of the crime."

Defendant Aided By:

"Lisa Cahill, a lawyer with Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York, the Legal Aid Society, and the Kings County Conviction Integrity Unit."

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

40

Age When Released:

50

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Manslaughter Conviction for Which Woman Served 10 Years Is Vacated, By Sarah Maslin Nirfeb (Staff writer), The New York Times, Febraury 23, 2016"

Information Location 1:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/nyregion/womans-manslaughter-conviction-in-1991-death-to-be-vacated.html?_r=0

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