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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
13 |
Year Crime: |
1994 |
Year Convicted: |
1996 |
Year Cleared: |
2007 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Florida |
County or Region of Crime: |
Duvall |
City of Crime: |
Mayport |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Chad Heins was wrongfully convicted in 1996 of the 1994 rape and the first-degree murder of his sister-in-law. He was sentenced to life in prison. In 2004 DNA test results were released that excluded Heins as the source of male pubic hairs found on the women. His conviction was reversed by a Duvall County judge in December 2006 based on DNA testing that excluded him, and a new trial was ordered. In December 2007 the prosecution dropped the charges and Heins was released on December 4, 2007, after being wrongly imprisoned for more than 13 years. On September 8, 2015 Heins was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, after he had pled guilty to being involved in a scheme with five other men to defraud the U.S. Internal Revenue Service of $287,533. Heins was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution of $50 monthly after his release. While he was wrongly impirsoned, Heins was a cellmate of the man who masterminded the fraud scheme. Heins was arrested in March 2015 from his involvement in the fraud scheme." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Two jailhouse informants gave false testimony that Heins spontaneously confessed to them. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"His conviction was reversed by a Duvall County judge in December 2006 based on DNA testing that excluded him, and a new trial was ordered. In December 2007 the prosecution dropped the charges and Heins was released on December 4, 2007," |
Defendant Aided By: |
"Innocence Project NY (Lead), Innocence Project of Florida and pro bono counsel Robert Beckham of law firm Holland & Knight." |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
18 |
Age When Released: |
31 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"After 13 years in prison, Chad Heins is a free man, by Paul Pinkham, Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville), December 5, 2007" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120507/met_222873110.shtml |
Information Source 2: |
"Man exonerated for murder sentenced for tax fraud, By Ashley Mitchem, News4Jax (Jacksonville, Fl), September 8, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.news4jax.com/news/man-exonerated-for-murder-sentenced-for-tax-fraud/35161414 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org