Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
10 year minimum |
Years Imprisoned: |
3.5 |
Year Crime: |
2006 |
Year Convicted: |
2008 |
Year Cleared: |
2012 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Massachusetts |
County or Region of Crime: |
Hampden |
City of Crime: |
Springfield |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Sharon Haywood and Roland Fils were codefendants wrongly convicted in July 2008 of cocaine trafficking in Springfield, Massachusetts. After their conviction by a jury Fils and Haywood were sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 10 years for their drug convictions, and Fils was sentenced to an additional 2 year consecutive sentence for violating a school drug free zone. Fils and Haywood appealed arguing that their constitutional right to confront their accuser was violated because the lab technician who tested the alleged cocaine and wrote the lab report that the prosecution introduced into evidence did not testify -- and consequently Fils and Haywood couldn't cross-examine him. Their convictions were overturned and retrials ordered after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it violated a defendant's right of confrontation for a lab report not to be introduced by the technician who wrote the report. After a retrial Roland Fils was acquitted of cocaine trafficking by a jury on January 6, 2012. After Fils' acquittal, the Hampden County District Attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Sharon Haywood that was granted on January 19, 2012." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"Haywood's co-defendant Roland Fils was acquitted of cocaine trafficking by a jury on January 6, 2012. The Hampden County District Attorney then filed a motion to dismiss the the charges against Sharon Haywood that was granted on January 19, 2012." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
42 |
Age When Released: |
46 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Roland Fils of Springfield, in jail since 2006, acquitted in retrial of cocaine trafficking charges, By Buffy Spencer, Masslive.com, January 16, 2012" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/roland_fils_acquited_of_cocain.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Cocaine trafficking charge against Sharon Haywood of Springfield dropped, By Buffy Spencer, Masslive.com, January 20, 2012" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/cocaine_trafficking_charge_aga.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org