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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Child Pornography (Possession, Manufacture, or Dissemination)" |
Sentence: |
6 yrs with credit for 1 yr served |
Years Imprisoned: |
3 |
Year Crime: |
2003 |
Year Convicted: |
2006 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Ohio |
County or Region of Crime: |
Auglaize |
City of Crime: |
Wapakoneta |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"David L. Harrison Sr. was wrongly convicted on June 25, 2003 of pandering obscenity involving a minor in Wapakoneta, Ohio. At the time David Harrison was the Police Chief in Wapakoneta, Ohio. The alleged obscenity was found on his official work computer and his home computer. On July 13, 2003 Harrison pled guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison, with no probation or post-release reporting requirements upon his release in case number 2003-CR-83. Harrison was released from prison on July 24, 2004. In February 2005, seven months after Harrison's release and completion of his sentence, the Auglaize County District Attorney's Office filed a motion to re-sentence Harrison and impose a five year term of probation. Harrison filed a writ of prohibition with the Ohio 3rd District Court of Appeals seeking its ruling that the Auglaize County Court lacked jurisdiction to impose any further sentence upon him. Prior to the appeals court making a ruling, on March 29, 2005 the Auglaize County Court held a hearing to resentence Harrison, but instead of resentencing him it allowed him to withdraw his guilty plea. With Harrison's conviction vacated, on April 5, 2005 the Ohio Attorney General's Office filed an motion for leave of court to file a dismissal of case number 2003-CR-83, which was granted. On May 5, 2005, the State filed an entry to dismiss the case of State v. Harrison, no. 2003-CR-83, which was granted. Although Harrison was convicted of no crime, the county court imposed bond conditions on Harrison. The State presented Harrison's case to a grand jury, which on June 23, 2005 issued an indictment charging Harrision with crimes precisely related to the the events involved in his original prosecution -- his conviction of which had been dismissed. On January 12, 2006 the Ohio Supreme Court issued its ruling in Hernandez v. Kelly, 2006-Ohio-126 (2006) that "a court attempting to impose a re-sentencing upon a defendant, whose journalized sentence had expired, lacked jurisdiction to do so." Although under the Hernandez decision Harrison was correct in his assertion the trial court lacked jurisdiction to proceed, the State did not inform the trial judge or Harrison's lawyer of the Hernandez ruling. Harrison's motion for a change of venue was granted and his trial was transferred to Madison County. Harrison's second trial commenced on March 6, 2005 - three months after it was specifically barred under Hernandez as a double-jeopardy violation. Harrison was found guilty on March 10, 2006 of of theft, unauthorized use of property, and possessing images of nude minors. He was sentenced to six years in prison with credit for the one year he spent in prison after his conviction in 2003. Harrison appealed his conviction, with one of his claims being that the Madison County Common Pleas Court lacked jurisdiction to conduct Harrison's trial. On December 28, 2007 the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals rejected Harrison's arguments and unanimously (3-0) affirmed his conviction. On February 11, 2008 Harrison filed a petition with the Ohio Supreme Court requesting review of his case, asserting in his argument that his conviction violated his right against Double Jeopardy under the Ohio and U.S. Constitutions. The Supreme Court accepted Harrison's case on May 21, 2008, and on July 2, 2008 Harrison filed a motion with the Court for his release on bond pending the Court's ruling. On August 6, 2008 the Court granted Harrison's motion,ordering that the 12th Dist. Ct. of Appeals set a reasonable bond. On August 14, 2008 the appeals court set the bond of a $250,000 signature bond -- so the indigent Harrisoin would not have to put up any cash. Harrison was released from Chillicothe Corr. Ctr a day later, on August 15, after more than two years and eleven days in prison. A week later the Ohio Attorney General's Office instructed the Auglaize County Sheriffs office to inform Harrison that he risked indictment if he did not immediately register as a sex offender. Harrison filed an emergency motion with the Ohio Supreme Court to stop the AG Office's harrassment -- and on that same day the Court issued an Order barring the State from requiring Harrison to register as a sex offender or a change of his residence until a decision was rendered in his case. The Supreme Court held oral arguments on Nov. 19, 2008. On July 28, 2009 the Ohio Supreme Court issued its unanimous decison reversing Harrison's conviction on the basis his prosecution violated his constitutional right against double jeopardy. The Court's ruling stated: "The journey this case has taken is lamentable. We hope it will never be repeated. ... there should never have been a second prosecution." And that Harrison's case involved a trial court's "wrongful assertion of jurisdiction." On April 14, 2010 Harrison filed a wrongful imprisonment claim with Ohio's Court of Claims. Harrison died on January 16, 2011 while his claim was pending. He was 58. His claim proceeded with his widow Vicki asserting her legal right to the compensation due him under the law. Under the statute Harrision had to prove he was innocent of his convicted crimes by clear and convincing evidence. On September 27, 2011 a Settlement Agreement was filed in the Court of Claims in which the State agreed to pay a total of $260,000: Harrison's widow was to receive $190,000, and Dean Boland, the lawyer handling the case to be paid $70,000. On October 5, 2011 the Order approving the settlement was filed." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Trial court erroneously denied Harrison's pre-trial motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 28, 2009 the Ohio Supreme Court issued its unanimous decison reversing Harrison's conviction on the basis his prosecution violated his constitutional right against double jeopardy. The Court's ruling stated: "The journey this case has taken is lamentable. We hope it will never be repeated. ... there should never have been a second prosecution." And that Harrison's case involved a trial court's "wrongful assertion of jurisdiction."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$260,000 (State of Ohio, Oct. 2011)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
50 |
Age When Released: |
55 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"State v. Harrison, 122 Ohio St.3d 512, 2009-Ohio-3547 (Ohio Sup. Ct., 7-28-2009) (Reversing conviction based on double-jeopardy.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2009/2009-ohio-3547.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"David Harrison v. The State of Ohio,, No. 2010-06010 WI (Ohio Ct. of Claims, 4-4-2010) (Complaint)" |
Information Location 2: |
http://cases.ohiocourtofclaims.gov/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/streamfile.p?Serial=111005001269893&Seq=1 |
Information Source 3: |
"Vicki Harrison, Admr. For David Harrison v. The State of Ohio,, No. 2010-06010 WI (Ohio Ct. of Claims, 10-5-2011) (Journal Entry Approving Settlement)" |
Information Location 3: |
http://cases.ohiocourtofclaims.gov/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/streamfile.p?Serial=100414001197777&Seq=1 |
Information Source 4: |
"Former police chief convicted of child pornography charges, The Daily Jeffersonian, March 13, 2006" |
Information Location 4: |
http://daily-jeff.com/local%20news/2006/03/14/former-police-chief-convicted-of-child-pornography-charges |
Information Source 5: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org