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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Felony Murder |
Sentence: |
50 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
29 |
Year Crime: |
1985 |
Year Convicted: |
1989 |
Year Cleared: |
2020 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Connecticut |
County or Region of Crime: |
Litchfield |
City of Crime: |
New Milford |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Shawn Henning and his co-defendant, Ricky Birch were wrongly convicted of murder in Connecticut in the stabbing death of 65-year-old Everett Carr at his home in New Milford on December 1, 1985. Henning and Birch were prosecuted based on the narrative that Carr's death was the result of a home burglary gone bad. At the time Henning and Birch were homeless youth living in a stolen car in the area and burgling homes. No physical or forensic evidence directly linked them to the crime. Key prosecution testimony was provided by forensic science expert Henry Lee that stains on a towel were bloodstains, and the prosecution argued the two boys used it to wipe their hands. Henning and Birch were convicted by jury's after separate trials, with Henning sentenced to 50 years in prison and Birch sentenced to 55 years in prison. Henning appealed his conviction on the primary ground that the evidence was insufficient to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, which was denied on November 19, 1991 by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Post-conviction DNA testing in 2007 and 2013 of more than two-dozen items recovered from the crime scene excluded Henning and Birch, while identifying the DNA profile of an unknown female, that on several items was mixed with Carr's DNA. The testing established the stains on the towel Lee had testified about was not blood. On June 14, 2019 the Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously granted Henning and Birch's post-conviction petition and ordered new trials based in part on forensic science expert Henry Lee's inaccurate testimony during their 1989 trial that stains on a towel were bloodstains. Henning had been released on parole in 2018. On July 2, 2019 Birch released from the Osborn Correctinoal Institution in Somers pending the decision of the DA on whether he and Henning would be retried. The Litchfield County DA decided not to retry Henning and Birch, and the DA's motion to dismiss the charges was granted on July 10, 2020." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Inaccurate testimony by forensic science expert Henry Lee that stains on a towel were bloodstains. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"The Litchfield County DA decided not to retry Henning and Birch, and the DA's motion to dismiss the charges was granted on July 10, 2020." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Centurion Ministries |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
21 |
Age When Released: |
50 |
Sex: |
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Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Judge dismisses charges against two men who spent 30 years in jail, By Brigitte Ruthman, Republican-American, July 10, 2020" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2020/07/10/judge-dismisses-charges-against-two-men-who-spent-30-years-in-jail/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Murder in New Milford: Court vacates Sean Henning and Ricky Birch's convictions, By Staff, Fox 5 New York, June 17, 2019" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.fox5ny.com/news/murder-in-new-milford-court-vacates-sean-henning-and-ricky-birchs-convictions-the-tape-room |
Information Source 3: |
"State v. Henning, 220 Conn. 417 (Conn: Supreme Court 1991) (Affirming conviction)" |
Information Location 3: |
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10520966567365018530&q=Shawn+Henning+Ricky+Birch&hl=en&as_sdt=1ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffe000000000000001f000001ffffffecfff87fe3fffffff00108000000000008004 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org