Paul Gatling

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	30 yrs to life imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	9.5
Year Crime:	1963
Year Convicted:	1964
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:	"Paul Gatling was wrongly convicted in 1964 of the shooting murder of Lawrence Rothbort on the night of October 15, 1963 in his Brooklyn, New York home. There was no physical or forensic evidence linking Gatling to the shooting, so his prosecution was based on his identification by the victim's wife. Rothbort was white and Gatling was black. The 29-year-old Gatling proclaimed his innocence, but facing a possible death sentence if he was convicted after a trial, Gatling pled guilty and in October 1964 was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. Gatling's sentence was commutted by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller in January 1974, and he was released from prison after almost 10 years imprisonment. After reading about that the Kings County District Attorney Conviction Integrity Unit created in 2011 was being reinvigorated by new DA Ken Thompson who took office in January 2014, Gatling contacted the lawyer who handled his commutation. The lawyer contacted the CIU, which initiated an investigation of Gatling's case. The investigation discovered that Gatling was not provided with a lawyer prior to being interrogated about the crime, and that prior to Gatling's guilty plea his lawyer was not provided favorable information known to the DA, as was required by Brady v. Maryland (1963). Among that evidence was that the Rothborts’ neighbors told the police that the couple couple often had violent arguments — sometimes during the night, and that Mrs. Rothbort told detectives she was having an affair with a musician, Leon Tolbert, who was living as a boarder in their home. When Tolbert was interviewed he told the police he had recently heard Mrs. Rothbort threaten to kill her husband if he ever hit her again. The Kings County DA's Office determined that Gatling's conviction was a miscarriage of justice, and on May 2, 2016 Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo granted the DA's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, set aside his conviction, and dismiss the charge."
Conviction Caused By:	Prosecutor misconduct of failing to disclose favorable evidence.
Innocence Proved By:	"The Kings County DA's Office determined that Gatling's conviction was a miscarriage of justice, and on May 2, 2016 Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo granted the DA's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, set aside his conviction, and dismiss the charge."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	29
Age When Released:	39
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Brooklyn DA vacates man’s wrongful conviction in 1963 murder, By Christina Carrega-woodby, New York Daily News, May 2, 2016"
Information Location 1:	http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-da-vacate-man-wrongful-conviction-1963-murder-article-1.2621460
Information Source 2:	"Man Wrongfully Convicted of Murder Awaits His Exoneration, 52 Years Later, By Alan Feuermay, The New York Times, May 1, 2016"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/nyregion/man-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-awaits-his-exoneration-52-years-later.html?_r=0
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Paul Gatling

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

30 yrs to life imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

9.5

Year Crime:

1963

Year Convicted:

1964

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:

Prosecutor misconduct of failing to disclose favorable evidence.

Innocence Proved By:

"The Kings County DA's Office determined that Gatling's conviction was a miscarriage of justice, and on May 2, 2016 Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo granted the DA's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, set aside his conviction, and dismiss the charge."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

29

Age When Released:

39

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Brooklyn DA vacates man’s wrongful conviction in 1963 murder, By Christina Carrega-woodby, New York Daily News, May 2, 2016"

Information Location 1:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-da-vacate-man-wrongful-conviction-1963-murder-article-1.2621460

Information Source 2:

"Man Wrongfully Convicted of Murder Awaits His Exoneration, 52 Years Later, By Alan Feuermay, The New York Times, May 1, 2016"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/nyregion/man-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-awaits-his-exoneration-52-years-later.html?_r=0

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Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

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