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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Failure to report change of address as a sex offender |
Sentence: |
16 to 24 months |
Years Imprisoned: |
1.57 |
Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Michigan |
County or Region of Crime: |
Hillsdale |
City of Crime: |
Hillsdale |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Anthony Hart was wrongly convicted in 2013 and 2014 of failing to update his address as a requirement of him being a convicted sex offender. Hart 17 and considered a juvenile when in 2001 he was convicted of the misdemeanor of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person between the ages of 13 to 17. Hart had consensual sex with a fellow female high school student. Under the law at the time Hart had to register as a sex offender twice a year for 25 years as a Tier II offender. In July 2013 Hart was homeless living in a treehouse when he was arrested in Hillsdale, Michigan for failing to register the correct address of the treehouse: he registered it as 79 Budlong in Hillsdale, when it was in fact located at 76 Budlong. Hart pled guilty in Hillsdale County District Court and was fined. Hart continued to register. Hart registered in December 2013, and inn January 2014 he heard that the police were looking for him. When he went to the police station in January 2014 he was arrested for failing to verify to verify his address. Hart was advised by his lawyer to pled guilty to failure to update his address, which he did in February 2014. In March Hillsdale County Circuit Court Judge Michael Smith sentenced Hart to 16 to 24 months in prison. In August 2015 the Michigan Department of Corrections discovered that as a result of a 2011 change in Michigan's sex offender registry laws as they applied to people convicted of a Tier II offender as a juvenile, he was no longer required to register as a sex offender or verify his address because the law was applied retroactively. On August 25, 2015 Judge Smith signed an order withdrawing Hart's guilty plea and ordering the vacating of his conviction. Hart was released the next day after almost 19 months in custody from the time of his January 2014 arrest. In November 2015 Hillsdale County District Court Judge Sara Lisznyai signed an order withdrawing Hart's 2013 guilty plea and vacated his conviction for failure to register. In January 2016 Hart filed a federal civil rights lawsuit regarding his false arrests for non-existent crimes in 2013 and 2014 and his wrongful convictions and imprisonment. Hart was represented by three separate law firms in filing the lawsuit. Regarding his 2013 arrest Hart named as defendants: Hillsdale County, and Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Timothy Parker, and two dispatchers, Christine Wahtola and Kwinn Leva. Regarding his 2014 arrest, named as defendants were: the city of Hillsdale; Hillsdale Police Department officers Shelby Rathbun and Todd Holtz; two Michigan State Police analysts; and the computer company that maintains the state sex offender registry, Watch Systems of Louisiana. Hart sued for attorney Kimberly Burger for legal malpractice. Burger represented Hart and advised him to plead guilty in 2013 and then in 2014 to an offense the lawsuit asserts was not a crime. Also named as defendants are the two law firms who employed Burger, her own KB Law Office, and Parker, Hayes, and Lovinger, P.C. " |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 25, 2015 Judge Smith signed an order withdrawing Hart's guilty plea and ordering the vacating of his conviction. Hart was released the next day after almost 19 months in custody from the time of his January 2014 arrest. In November 2015 Hillsdale County District Court Judge Sara Lisznyai signed an order withdrawing Hart's 2013 guilty plea and vacated his conviction for failure to register." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
30 |
Age When Released: |
31 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
""A crime that didn't exist": Hillsdale man sues over wrongful imprisonment, By Aaron Dimick, WLNS.com, April 17, 2018" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.wlns.com/news/a-crime-that-didnt-exist-hillsdale-man-sues-over-wrongful-imprisonment/1127528844 |
Information Source 2: |
"Local police sued for false arrest/imprisonment, By Don Reid, Hillsdale Daily News (Hillsdale, MI), May 14, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.hillsdale.net/news/20160514/local-police-sued-for-false-arrestimprisonment |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org