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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Sexual Assault/Misconduct with a child |
Sentence: |
10 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
10 |
Year Crime: |
1990 |
Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
2010 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Wisconsin |
County or Region of Crime: |
Douglas |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Rommain Steven Isham was 32 when he was wrongly convicted in 1990 for allegedly sexually assaulting the 8-year-old son of his live-in girlfriend in Douglas County, Wisconsin. Isham denied the accusation and there was no physical evidence he committed the crime. The prosecution’s key evidence was the boy’s testimony, which the jury believed in convicting Isham. After Isham was released in 2000 after serving 10 years in prison, he had to register as a sex offender. In 2009 investigator James Ohm with the Wisconsin Department of Justice was interviewing the mother of the boy Isham had been convicted of assaulting, when the mother told Ohm that the boy had recanted his accusation years earlier. Ohm reported that information to the Douglas County DA’s Office, and he was told to conduct an investigation. Ohm discovered that in 1998 the boy recanted his testimony to authorities in Sheboygan County, where he lived at that time. The authorities in Sheboygan County didn’t relay the new information to the Douglas County DA. Ohm interviewed the alleged victim, Jeremy Kaseno, who was then 28. Kaseno told him that he first recanted in 1993 when he was 11. He also said that he was very young when he falsely accused Isham and he got caught up in the lie and his abusive father pressured him to maintain the lie. Based on the new evidence Isham’s conviction was vacated in May 2010. During that hearing Douglas County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Thimm said Isham’s case “is probably every citizen’s worst nightmare, let alone a judge and a former prosecutor, to see an innocent man convicted wrongfully. Not only was an innocent person convicted but an innocent person spent a substantial time in prison and was required to register as a sex offender. Our government system failed in this case, and I apologize.” With his conviction vacated Isham no longer had to register as a sex offender. In July 2010 Isham filed a claim with the Wisconsin Claim Board for $3,650,000 -- $1,000 for each day he was wrongly imprisoned. However, Wisconsin’s wrongful conviction compensation statute only provides for compensation of $5,000 per year for no more than 5 years, or a total payment of $25,000. On October 27, 2011 the Board voted to award Isham the maximum payment of $25,000 based on its determination there was clear and convincing evidence he was innocent of his convicted crime. The Board can recommend that the state Legislature award more money in a special bill and it has done so in several wrongful conviction cases. However, it didn’t make that recommendation in Isham’s case, and it didn’t provide any explanation for why it decided not to do so. The Board’s decision can be appealed. A Wisconsin legislator can independently file a bill to award Isham additional compensation, and after the Board made its announcement Isham told reporters, “I’m looking for somebody to help me out. I expected to get more. I had my own job making about $2,000 a month when I went in, and that’s a quarter million. That’s not counting the hardship of being raped and beaten up in prison, and then the years I was made to register as a sex offender.” In the week of October 16, 2012 Isham, then living in Duluth, Minnesota, was sentenced for gross misdemeanor driving uninsured to one year in jail, with 350 days stayed for two years. He must serve 15 days. He was placed on probation for two years. He must pay an $800 fine and $160 in fees." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Alleged victim fabricated the story that Isham abused him. |
Innocence Proved By: |
Based on the new evidence Isham’s conviction was vacated in May 2010. |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$25,000 (State of Wisconsin, October 27, 2011)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
32 |
Age When Released: |
42 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Native American (Indian) |
Information Source 1: |
"Man granted $25,000 compensation after 20 years of punishment for crime he did not commit, By George Hesselberg (staff), Wisconsin State Journal, October 27, 2011" |
Information Location 1: |
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_3f0f41d6-0101-11e1-8283-001cc4c002e0.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Minn. man gets $25K after 10 years in Wis. Prison, By Dinesh Rame (AP), Chicago Tribune, October 27, 2011" |
Information Location 2: |
"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-convictionsovertu,0,4746539.story" |
Information Source 3: |
"Duluth man gets $25,000 after 10 years in Wisconsin prison on wrongful conviction, By Dinesh Ramde (Associated Press), Duluth News Tribune, October 28, 2011" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/213151/ |
Information Source 4: |
"Rommain Steven Isham - Ruling #3, State of Wisconsin Claims Board, October 11, 2011" |
Information Location 4: |
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/journals/senate/20111028/_117 |
Information Source 5: |
"Beltrami County Court Report for October 28, The Bemidji Pioneer, October 26, 2012" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/beltrami-county-court-report-october-28 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org