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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
29 |
Year Crime: |
1979 |
Year Convicted: |
1982 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
Southhampton |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Sean Hodgson was wrongly convicted in 1982 of murder after falsely confessing in 1980 to the December 4, 1979 strangulation death of 22-year-old Teresa De Simone in Southhampton, England. Hodgson also confessed to several other murders and many other crimes that either didn't occur or that he could not physically have committed. However no mental health examination of Hodgson was conducted by the prosecution or requested by his attorney. Although Hodgson retracted his confession at his trial and told the jurors, "I am a pathological liar," the jury relied on it to convict him. Hodgson was sentenced to life in prison and his appeal was denied in 1983. Hodgson was denied parole because he insisted on his innocence and refused to admit guilt. In 1998 a lawyer representing Hodgson sought to find out if physical evidence existed that could be tested, but he was told by England's Forensic Science Service that none existed. In March 2008 Hodgson contacted a law firm that had an advertisement in Inside Times, a national prison newspaper distributed to all prisoners in England. The lawyer Julian Young took Hodgson's case pro bono and upon finding that forensic evidence in fact still existed, he was successful in convincing the government to submit it to the national crime lab for DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial. In December 2008 the DNA tests excluded Hodgson as the woman's assailant. Additional tests in January 2009 confirmed the exclusion of Hodgson. On March 18, 2009 the England's Court of Appeal quashed Hodgson's conviction and he was immediately released after 29 years of wrongful imprisonment. Hodgson was awarded compensation by the British government. Hodgson was 61 when he died in October 2012 from emphysema." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Falsely confessed to the murder. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On March 18, 2009 the England's Court of Appeal quashed Hodgson's conviction and he was immediately released after 27 years of wrongful imprisonment." |
Defendant Aided By: |
England's Criminal Case Review Commission |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
28 |
Age When Released: |
57 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Prisoner has murder conviction quashed after 27 years, By Sandra Laville, Sam Jones and Matthew Weaver, Guardian (UK), March 18, 2009" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/18/prisoner-hodgson-murder-quashed-miscarriage |
Information Source 2: |
"The Ad that led to freedom, by Jon Reeve, Southern Daily Echo, March 17, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4203427.The_Ad_that_led_to_freedom/ |
Information Source 3: |
"Miscarriage of justice victim served extra 11 years due to 'lost' evidence, By Sandra Laville (staff), Guardian (UK), March 19, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/19/miscarriage-justice-hodgson |
Information Source 4: |
"Sean Hodgson, wrongfully jailed for 1979 murder, dies, BBC News, October 27, 2012" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20109311 |
Information Source 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org