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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Sexual Assault (includes aggravated) |
Sentence: |
6 years & 10 years supervised release |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.58 |
Year Crime: |
2015 |
Year Convicted: |
2016 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Canada |
County or Region of Crime: |
Yukon |
City of Crime: |
Whitehorse |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Jackie Kodwat was wrongly convicted in October 2016 of sexual assault in the rape of a 16-year-old girl in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada on December 19, 2015. Kodwat's prosecution was based on the girl's testimony that she went to a party at Yukon College with friends and had consumed so much alcohol that she left intending to spend the night at a friend's house in the McIntyre subdivision, but she accidently ended up next door at Kodwat's home where she fell asleep in a chair with her clothes on. She said that when she woke up about 10 am she was in bed with the 44-year-old Kodwat with her leggings and underwear off. She grabbed her clothes and went to her friend's house and told her what had happened, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called. The friend testified that the girl was "crying her eyes out." Laboratory tests established the two had sex. Kodwat's defense was the girl consented to have sex with him, which the prosecution countered by arguing she was too intoxicated to consent. After Kodwat's conviction following a bench trial, Judge Donald Luther sentenced him in May 2017 to six years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and he was designated as a dangerous offender. Kodwat appealed. In July 2017 his conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered. On December 14, 2017 Kodwat was acquitted by Judge Raymond Wyant following a bench retrial. Judge Wyant said that he had "concerns" from a "web of circumstantial evidence that" a sexual assault may have occurred, but "there was no evidence that her motor functions were severely impaired" and there was no evidence of how much alcohol she had consumed. Consequently, the prosecution's evidence didn't negate that she was able to provide consent to have sex, and thus the prosecution didn't present strong enough evidence to prove Kodwat guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 14, 2017 Kodwat was acquitted by Judge Raymond Wyant following a bench retrial. Judge Wyant said that he had "concerns" from a "web of circumstantial evidence that" a sexual assault may have occurred, but "there was no evidence that her motor functions were severely impaired" and there was no evidence of how much alcohol she had consumed. Consequently, the prosecution's evidence didn't negate that she was able to provide consent to have sex, and thus the prosecution didn't present strong enough evidence to prove Kodwat guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
45 |
Age When Released: |
46 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Native |
Information Source 1: |
"Man’s court acquittal leaves family upset: A Whitehorse man whose sexual assault conviction was overturned on appeal has been acquitted of the charge following a second trial, By Emily Blake, Whitehorse Daily Star, December 15, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.whitehorsestar.com/News/man-s-court-acquittal-leaves-family-upset |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org