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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
"5 years probation & $1,176 fine" |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.47 |
Year Crime: |
2007 |
Year Convicted: |
2008 |
Year Cleared: |
2010 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New Jersey |
County or Region of Crime: |
Camden |
City of Crime: |
Camden |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Dayna Hinton was wrongly convicted in January 2008 of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it after her arrest on September 30, 2007 in Camden, New Jersey. Hinton was arrested after buying $10 in crack cocaine which she insisted to the arresting officer was for her personal use, but whose report indicated she was a dealer. Held in jail unable to make bail, HInton took the advice of her public defender to plead guilty in exchange for 5 years probation and a fine of $1,176. In 2009 Hinton was working as a ticket taker and usher at a Camden theater when she missed an appointment with her probation officer because she she was working. She was arrested and charged with a probation violation, and the judge sentenced her to serve 3 months in jail. Hinton served a total of 5-1/2 months in jail after her initial arrest and for her probation violation. In March 2010 Hinton's conviction was vacated and the charges dismissed based on new evidence that corrupt Camden police officers fabricated the evidence against her. Hinton was one of the 99 defendants wrongly convicted between 2007 and 2009 of drug charges in Camden, New Jersey based on evidence planting, fabrication of reports and evidence, and perjury by five Camden City police officers to obtain their convictions. Eighty-eight of the defendants who cumulatively spent 109 years in prison shared in the $3.5 million January 2013 settlement of federal civil rights known as the Camden Police Cases. Althouth the Camden County Prosecutors Office has declined to provide specific information about the overturned convictions, because the files are sealed by court order, the names of at least 76 defendants was disclosed in news stories and in documents related to the federal lawsuit. Eleven other unnamed defendants wrongly convicted as a result of the same police corruption sued for malicious prosecution in New Jersey state court and were awarded money damages. At least 171 defendants had their drug convictions dismissed. Four Camden police officers involved in the scandal were convicted of federal criminal charges: Sgt. Dan Morris, Jason Stetser and Kevin Parry pled guilty in 2012 to conspiracy under plea agreements and received sentences that ranged from 8 months to 37 months in federal prison. The fourth officer, Antonio Figueroa, was convicted after a trial of violating the civil rights of suspects, and he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, which was later reduced to eight years and one month. Figueroa is scheduled to be released on September 16, 2019, after which he will serve three years of supervised release." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Corrupt Camden police officer fabricated the evidence against Hinton. |
Innocence Proved By: |
In March 2010 Hinton's conviction was vacated and the charges dismissed based on new evidence that the police fabricated the evidence against her. |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
41 |
Age When Released: |
43 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
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Information Source 1: |
"Camden cases were tossed amid a probe of police. Telling those affected is taking longer, By Matt Katz (Staff wriiter), Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 2010" |
Information Location 1: |
http://articles.philly.com/2010-04-10/news/25214168_1_drug-case-cash-from-drug-dealers-conviction |
Information Source 2: |
"Camden Agrees to Pay $3.5M to Victims of Police Corruption, Press Release, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, January 10, 2013" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.aclu.org/news/camden-agrees-pay-35m-victims-police-corruption |
Information Source 3: |
"Officers accused of planting evidence on drug suspects, Courier Post (Camden, NJ), October 15, 2010" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20101015/NEWS01/10150354/Officers-accused-of-planting-evidence-on-drug-suspects |
Information Source 4: |
"Camden County convictions are vacated after federal corruption probe, AP Story, February 18, 2010" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/camden_inmate_surprised_to_lea.html |
Information Source 5: |
"Camden drops charges against 185 people after police misconduct investigation, By Associated Press, NJ.com, March 19, 2010" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/camden_drops_charges_against_1.html |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org