Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Richard L. Kittilstad

 

Charge:

Prostitution Solicitation

Sentence:

10 years

Years Imprisoned:

6

Year Crime:

1996

Year Convicted:

2001

Year Cleared:

2007

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Wisconsin

County or Region of Crime:

Eau Claire

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Richard L. Kittilstad was wrongly convicted of soliciting prostitution for alleging offering money to four Panamanian students who lived in his home in exchange for being allowed to watch through a ceiling vent while they had sex with women. Kittilstad was the pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Augusta, near Eau Claire, and he hosted the students while they attended a nearby technical college. The key evidence against Kittilstad was an audio tape in which Richard Kittilstad apparently incriminated himself, which confirmed the testimony of the four students. One of the students testified that the tape had not been edited. Kittilstad was sentenced to 10 years in prison, that was suspended and he was released on probation. One condition was that he have no contact with any of the students. However, Kittilstad was accused of contacting a student so his probation was revoked and he was imprisoned in 2002 to serve his 10 year sentence. After six years imprisonment the Wisconsin Innocence Project aided Kittilstad in establishing that the audio tape had been spliced together from multiple recordings. One of the students that had gone back to Panama before the allegations were made was located and he told investigators that before he left the other students tried to enlist him in their plan to fabricate the charge against Kittilstad, which would allow them to apply for permanent residency in the U.S. as hardship cases. Prosecution experts examined the tape and agreed it had been edited and spliced together from more than one conversation, with parts of the original conversation deliberately masked or otherwise recorded over. Based on the new forensic and witness evidence Kittilstad filed a motion for a new trial, and after being denied by the trial court, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals overturned his conviction on October 2, 2007. Kittilstad was released on a signature bond (his own recognizance) on October 10, 2007. On November 15, 2007 Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White announced that Kittilstad wouldn't be retried and the charges were dismissed."

Conviction Caused By:

Audio tape that was edited by four Panamanian students to make Kittilstad appear guilty.

Innocence Proved By:

"The Wisconsin Court of Appeals overturned his conviction on October 2, 2007. On November 15, 2007 Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White announced that Kittilstad wouldn't be retried and the charges were dismissed."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

54

Age When Released:

60

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Wisconsin v Richard Kittilstand, No. 2006AP2818 (Dist III Court of Appeals, 10-2-2007)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Minister won't undergo new trial, By Marie Rohde (staff), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 15, 2007"

Information Location 2:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=686816

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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