|
Wrongly Convicted Database Record
|
Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Life imprisonment with 9 year minimum |
Years Imprisoned: |
7.58 |
Year Crime: |
2006 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Florida |
County or Region of Crime: |
Pasco |
City of Crime: |
Land O’ Lakes |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Derral Wayne Hodgkins was wrongly convicted in September 2011 of the murder of Teresa Lodge in Land O’Lakes, Florida sometime from the afternoon of September 27, 2006 to the early morning of September 28.. Hodgkins was an ex-boyfriend of Lodge. On November 1, 2007 the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Lab reported that DNA consistent with Hodgkins' profile was detected under fingernails on her left hand (Lodge was left handed). When questioned by police, Hodgkins told the officers that he and Lodge had at one time been a couple, and in 2004 she told him she was dealing cocaine and she didn't want him to be involved if she was arrested for it. He said they remained friends and that whenever Lodge hugged him she scratched his back with her fingernails. He said she hugged him when they saw each other several days before her murder. With no evidence to link Hodgkins to Lodge’s murder except for the DNA, he was arrested and charged on November 18, 2007 with premeditated first-degree murder. After awaiting trial for more than three years in the Pasco County Jail, his trial that began in January 2011 ended in a mistrial. His retrial began in August 2011. The prosecution didn’t present any evidence that blood was found in the DNA sample, that Hodgkins’ blood was on Lodge or in her apartment, and none of the 18 fingerprints lifted from the crime scene belonged to Hodgkins. Furthermore, a beer bottle found in her apartment with her blood on it was the likely murder weapon, but it didn’t have Hodgkins’ fingerprints or DNA on it. After the prosecution closed its case that was based on the circumstantial DNA evidence, the trial judge denied the motion by Hodgkins's lawyers for a judgment of acquittal because the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt: and specifically, no evidence disproving that the DNA was deposited underneath Lodge’s fingernails was from her hugging Hodgkins several days before her death. After the jury found Hodgkins’ guilty of first-degree murder on September 7, 2011, he was sentenced to death on May 1, 2013. A key issue in Hodgkins appeal was the insufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence. On June 18, 2015 the Florida Supreme Court issued its ruling that stated: “In this circumstantial case, the State simply has not pointed to legally sufficient evidence establishing a nexus between Hodgkins’ DNA and any criminal conduct on his part. Furthermore, we find that the State’s evidence is wholly consistent with Hodgkins’ hypothesis of innocence that someone else killed Lodge. Preliminarily, we conclude that the timeframe within which Lodge could have been killed was far too lengthy to reasonably infer that only Hodgkins made contact with Lodge. ... Lodge was murdered between approximately 2:30 p.m. that Wednesday and 5:30 a.m. the following day—a fifteen-hour window. ... Where the only proof of guilt is circumstantial, no matter how strongly the evidence may suggest guilt, a conviction cannot be sustained unless the evidence is inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence.... Because we find that the record lacks competent, substantial evidence to sustain the conviction, we reverse and vacate Hodgkins’ conviction and sentence.” The case was remanded to the trial court “with directions that a judgment of acquittal be entered.” (Derral Wayne Hodgkins v. State of Florida, No. SC13-1004 (Flor. Sup. Ct., 6-18-2015)) On September 24, 2015 the Supreme Court denied the State of Florida's Motion for Rehearing. On October 12, 2015 the Supreme Court issued a Mandate to Pasco County Circuit Court commanding it to act in accordance with the Court's opinion of June 18, 2015. Hodgkins was released directly death row to the street on October 12, 2015. A judgment of acquittal was entered by the Pasco County Circuit Court on October 20, 2015." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Prosecution relied on insubstantial DNA evidence. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On June 18, 2015 the Florida Supreme Court ruled that, "Because we find that the record lacks competent, substantial evidence to sustain the conviction, we reverse and vacate Hodgkins’ conviction and sentence." The case was remanded to the trial court "with directions that a judgment of acquittal be entered." (Darral Wayne Hodgkins v. State of Florida, No. SC13-1004 (Flor. Sup. Ct., 6-18-2015))" |
Defendant Aided By: |
|
Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
|
Age When Imprisoned: |
47 |
Age When Released: |
55 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Derral Wayne Hodgkins vs. State of Florida, No. SC13-1004 (FL Supreme Ct., 6-18-2015) (Vacating conviction on basis of insufficient evidence of guilt)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2015/sc13-1004.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"Conviction overturned in 2006 Land O’ Lakes murder case, By Staff writers, The Tampa Tribune, June 18, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://tbo.com/pasco-county/conviction-overturned-in-2006-land-o-lakes-murder-case-20150618/ |
Information Source 3: |
"Pasco man released from death row after murder conviction overturned, By Erin Maloney (Reporter), Bay New 9 (St. Petersburg, FL.), October 13, 2015" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2015/10/13/pasco_man_death_row.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Supreme Court vacates death sentence of Pasco man convicted in Land O'Lakes murder, By Molly Moorhead (Times Staff Writer), Tampa Bay Times, June 18, 2015" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/supreme-court-vacates-death-sentence-of-man-convicted-in-land-olakes-murder/2234256 |
Information Source 5: |
|
Information Location 5: |
|
Book About Case: |
|
Book Information: |
|
Book About Case (2): |
|
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org