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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
19 |
Year Crime: |
1985 |
Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
2004 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
California |
County or Region of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
City of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Harold Coleman Hall was wrongly convicted in 1990 of second-degree murder of David Rainey and the first-degree murder of his sister, Nola Duncan, in Los Angeles, California in June 1985. Harold Hall was held in custody for five years before his trial in 1990. His prosecution was based on his confession, that he recanted as false and coerced, jailhouse informant Cornelius Lee's testimony that Hall confessed to him, and incriminately notes allegedly hand-written by Hall. After his convictions by a jury Harold Hall was sentenced to life in prison. In 1994 the California Court of Appeals ruled there was insufficient evidence to support Hall’s conviction of murdering Rainey, and reversed his conviction. The same Court upheld his conviction of murdering Duncan. In September 1994 Hall filed a state habeas corpus petition based on the new evidence that Lee’s recanted his testimony as false and that he fabricated the allegedly incriminating notes. During an evidentiary hearing, prosecution and defense experts independently confirmed Lee’s admission that he falsified the notes. Hall’s conviction of murdering Duncan was vacated and he was granted a new trial by his trial judge. However, the State appealed, and on July 23, 1996 the California Court of Appeals reinstated Hall's conviction, and he was subsequently re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, plus one year. After the California Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court's ruling, Hall filed a federal habeas corpus petition that was denied by a U.S. District Court judge on April 10, 2002. Hall appealed that ruling to the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the jury's reliance on the fake evidence of Lee’s falsified notes violated his right to due process. On September 8, 2003 the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's ruling and granted Hall's habeas petition. The Court ruled, "Because false and material evidence was admitted at Hall’s trial in violation of his due process rights, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court with instructions that it should issue an unconditional writ of habeas corpus unless the state court grants Hall a new trial within 120 days of the issuance of this court's mandate." On August 20, 2004 - almost a year after Hall’s conviction was reversed - the Los Angeles District Attorney decided he would not be retried. The DA's motion was granted to dismiss the charge of murdering Nola Duncan, and Hall was released on August 20, after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment. Hall filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that named as defendants the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department and several LAPD officers. Hall alleged the defendants had violated his constitutional rights by using false evidence to prosecute him. The district court judge dismissed Hall's lawsuit, but in September 2012 the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court's ruling. Hall's lawsuit is pending as of April 2016." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Police coerced Hall to falsely confess, and a jailhouse informant falsely testified that Hall confessed to him and that Hall wrote incriminately notes actually authored by the informant." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On September 8, 2003 the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's ruling and granted Hall's habeas petition. The Court ruled, "Because false and material evidence was admitted at Hall’s trial in violation of his due process rights, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court with instructions that it should issue an unconditional writ of habeas corpus unless the state court grants Hall a new trial within 120 days of the issuance of this court's mandate." On August 20, 2004 - almost a year after Hall’s conviction was reversed - the Los Angeles District Attorney decided he would not be retried. The DA's motion was granted to dismiss the charge of murdering Nola Duncan, and Hall was released on August 20, after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
37 |
Age When Released: |
56 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Harold Hall Freed! After 19 years wrongful imprisonment, By Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied magazine, Issue 27, Winter 2005, page 4" |
Information Location 1: |
http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_27/harold_hall.html |
Information Source 2: |
"The Coercion of Harold Hall, Case account by Harold Hall, Justice Denied magazine, Issue 9, November 1999, page 19" |
Information Location 2: |
http://justicedenied.org/v1issue9.htm#The%20Coercion%20of%20Harold%20Hall.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Wrongfully Convicted Calif Man Released, AP Los Angeles, Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, 08-22-2004" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.lancasteronline.com/pages/news/ap/4/wrongful_conviction |
Information Source 4: |
"Patience, Resolve Fuelded Man on His Long Road To Freedom, Anna Gorman (staff), LA Times, 08-21-2004" |
Information Location 4: |
"http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hall21aug21,1,5099061.story" |
Information Source 5: |
"Harold Coleman Hall v. Director of Corrections, 343 F.3d 976 (9th Cir. 2003) (Granting federal habeas petition)" |
Information Location 5: |
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/343/976/636434/#fn1_ref |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org