Joni Goldyn

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	"Bad Checks (including writing checks with insufficient funds, and uttering and publishing)"
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment with possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	12
Year Crime:	1988
Year Convicted:	1991
Year Cleared:	2006
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Nevada
County or Region of Crime:	Clark
City of Crime:	Las Vegas
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Joni Goldyn was wrongly convicted in Las Vegas in 1991 of "Drawing and Passing Checks" (NRS 205.130(1)) by writing five checks in 1988 that she didn't have money in her bank account to cover. Goldyn's defense during her 1991 trial was she had a bank check guarantee card and her bank covered all five checks, so she couldn't have written bad checks. Testimony established the 44-year-old Goldyn was a regular gambler, and the jury convicted her of five counts of violating NRS 205.130. Goldyn was sentenced to five terms of life in prison as a habitual offender because she had four unrelated prior fraud related felony and misdemeanor convictions. Goldyn filed seven appeals in State and Federal court asserting she was innocent because no crime had been committed. In December 1999 Nevada's Pardons Board unanimously voted (9-0) to allow Goldwyn to apply for parole in 2001. During the hearing evidence was presented that while in prison Goldyn had earned two college degrees and formed a Gamblers Anonymous group. Goldyn was released in 2001 on lifetime parole. In 2004 a federal District Court judge in Las Vegas denied her habeas corpus petition that she filed six years earlier in 1998 while she was imprisoned. Goldyn appealed the denial, and in February 2006 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's ruling. The State of Nevada filed a motion for reconsideration which the 9th Circuit denied. The 9th Circuit's ruling ordered that Goldyn's convictions be vacated on the basis that "Petitioner spent 12 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit." Goldyn v. Hayes, 444 F. 3d 1062 (9th Cir 2006) The 9th Circuit ruled that she couldn't have written bad checks and violated the statute because the checks were covered by her bank in accordance with the terms of her check guarantee card issued to her by her bank. The 9th Circuit's opinion stated about the Nevada Supreme Court's denial of Goldyn's direct appeal and her state habeas petition: "We are saddened and disappointed that the state supreme court unanimously affirmed a conviction carrying multiple life sentences based on such cursory and inadequate review of the record in light of the applicable statute." Id. at 1071. The charges against Goldyn were subsequently dismissed."
Conviction Caused By:	The trial judge and the Nevada Supreme Court wrongly interpreted the meaning of NRS 205.130(1).
Innocence Proved By:	The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the vacating of Joni Goldyn's convictions on the basis no crime had been committed.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	43
Age When Released:	55
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"Goldyn v. Hayes, 444 F. 3d 1062 (9th Cir 2006)"
Information Location 1:	"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7454390732246823077&q=444+F.3d+1062+Joni+Goldyn&hl=en&as_sdt=2,48"
Information Source 2:	"12 years in prison 'hell', By Sean Whaley (staff), Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 11, 2006"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"Appeals court reaffirms ruling woman wrongly convicted, Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 24, 2006"
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:	"Man serving life sentence wins clemency from Pardons Board, Staff writers, Las Vegas Sun, December 8, 1999"
Information Location 4:	http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1999/dec/08/man-serving-life-sentence-wins-clemency-from-pardo/#axzz2TrOOooVj
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Joni Goldyn

Charge:

"Bad Checks (including writing checks with insufficient funds, and uttering and publishing)"

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment with possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

12

Year Crime:

1988

Year Convicted:

1991

Year Cleared:

2006

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Nevada

County or Region of Crime:

Clark

City of Crime:

Las Vegas

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

The trial judge and the Nevada Supreme Court wrongly interpreted the meaning of NRS 205.130(1).

Innocence Proved By:

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the vacating of Joni Goldyn's convictions on the basis no crime had been committed.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

43

Age When Released:

55

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Goldyn v. Hayes, 444 F. 3d 1062 (9th Cir 2006)"

Information Location 1:

"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7454390732246823077&q=444+F.3d+1062+Joni+Goldyn&hl=en&as_sdt=2,48"

Information Source 2:

"12 years in prison 'hell', By Sean Whaley (staff), Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 11, 2006"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Appeals court reaffirms ruling woman wrongly convicted, Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 24, 2006"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

"Man serving life sentence wins clemency from Pardons Board, Staff writers, Las Vegas Sun, December 8, 1999"

Information Location 4:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1999/dec/08/man-serving-life-sentence-wins-clemency-from-pardo/#axzz2TrOOooVj

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: