Shirley Kinge

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Charge:	Burglary and Arson
Sentence:	18 to 47 years
Years Imprisoned:	2
Year Crime:	1989
Year Convicted:	1990
Year Cleared:	1992
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Kings
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Shirley Kinge was wrongly convicted in 1990 of burglary, arson and hindering prosecution related to the 1989 murders of four people (a mother, father and their two children) in Brooklyn, New York. Authorities contended she helped her son cover-up the slayings. Her son was shot to death during a police shoot-out in February 1990. She was sentenced in February 1991 to 18 to 47 years in prison. Her convictions were overturned in September 1992 when it was discovered that the state police planted her fingerprint on a gasoline can found at the crime scene. She was released after two years imprisonment. In February 2008 a New York State Court of Claims judge ruled that Shirley Kinge was entitled to compensation because she was the victim of malicious prosecution and negligent supervision of the state police investigator who planted phony evidence linking her to the deaths of Warren and Dolores Harris and their two children in December 1989. A hearing began in Syracuse, NY on March 2, 2009 to determine her compensation. On June 23, 2009 the New York State Court of Claims awarded Kinge $250,000. She also settled a federal civil rights lawsuit against New York City for $3.1 million in 2008. Kinge was 80 when she died in 2015."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$3.35 million total. $250,000 (New York State, June 2009) and $3.1 million (New York City 2008)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	54
Age When Released:	56
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Shirley Kinge's damages trial begins Monday in Syracuse, By Jim O'Hara, The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), February 26, 2009"
Information Location 1:	http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/shirley_kinges_damages_trial_b.html
Information Source 2:	"Wrongfully Convicted Awaits State Compensation, By Haley Hinds, WTVH-TV CBS 5 (Syracuse, NY), March 2, 2009"
Information Location 2:	http://www.wtvh.com/news/local/40565962.html
Information Source 3:	"Exonerations In The United States 1989 Through 2003, Samuel R Gross et al, The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol. 95, No. 2, 2005"
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:	"KINGE v. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, #2009-009-201, Claim No. 88273 (6-23-2009)"
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Shirley Kinge

Charge:

Burglary and Arson

Sentence:

18 to 47 years

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

1989

Year Convicted:

1990

Year Cleared:

1992

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Kings

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$3.35 million total. $250,000 (New York State, June 2009) and $3.1 million (New York City 2008)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

54

Age When Released:

56

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Shirley Kinge's damages trial begins Monday in Syracuse, By Jim O'Hara, The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), February 26, 2009"

Information Location 1:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/shirley_kinges_damages_trial_b.html

Information Source 2:

"Wrongfully Convicted Awaits State Compensation, By Haley Hinds, WTVH-TV CBS 5 (Syracuse, NY), March 2, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.wtvh.com/news/local/40565962.html

Information Source 3:

"Exonerations In The United States 1989 Through 2003, Samuel R Gross et al, The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol. 95, No. 2, 2005"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

"KINGE v. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, #2009-009-201, Claim No. 88273 (6-23-2009)"

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: