Bruce Godschalk

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	10 to 20 years
Years Imprisoned:	15
Year Crime:	1986
Year Convicted:	1986
Year Cleared:	2002
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Pennsylvania
County or Region of Crime:	Montgomery
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Bruce Godschalk was wrongly convicted of rape based on the identification of the victim and his confession. Bruce Godschalk was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. He was exonerated by DNA evidence that the prosecution fought for 7 years to keep from being tested. In September 2002 Godschalk filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Montgomery County and Upper Merion Township. In March 2004 Godschalk settled with Upper Merion Township for $1.6 million, and in 2003 he settled with Montgomery County for $740,000. So he settled the lawsuit for a total of $2.34 million for his 16 years of wrongful imprisonment."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness testimony and his false confession.
Innocence Proved By:	DNA
Defendant Aided By:	Lawyer David Rudovsky and Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:	"$2.34 million total. $740,000 (Montgomery County, 2003) and $1.6 mil. (Upper Merion Township, March 2004)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	26
Age When Released:	41
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"DNA Testing in Rape Cases Frees Prisoner After 15 Years, By Sara Rimer, New York Times, February 15, 2002, p. A12."
Information Location 1:	http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E4DF123FF936A25751C0A9649C8B63
Information Source 2:	Innocence Project database
Information Location 2:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=102
Information Source 3:	"$2.3M For False Rape Convictions, By Lloyd Vries (Associated Press), CBS News, March 22, 2004"
Information Location 3:	http://www.cbsnews.com/news/23m-for-false-rape-convictions/
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Bruce Godschalk

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

10 to 20 years

Years Imprisoned:

15

Year Crime:

1986

Year Convicted:

1986

Year Cleared:

2002

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Pennsylvania

County or Region of Crime:

Montgomery

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness testimony and his false confession.

Innocence Proved By:

DNA

Defendant Aided By:

Lawyer David Rudovsky and Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

"$2.34 million total. $740,000 (Montgomery County, 2003) and $1.6 mil. (Upper Merion Township, March 2004)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

26

Age When Released:

41

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"DNA Testing in Rape Cases Frees Prisoner After 15 Years, By Sara Rimer, New York Times, February 15, 2002, p. A12."

Information Location 1:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E4DF123FF936A25751C0A9649C8B63

Information Source 2:

Innocence Project database

Information Location 2:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=102

Information Source 3:

"$2.3M For False Rape Convictions, By Lloyd Vries (Associated Press), CBS News, March 22, 2004"

Information Location 3:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/23m-for-false-rape-convictions/

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: