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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
16 |
Year Crime: |
1987 |
Year Convicted: |
1988 |
Year Cleared: |
2004 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Pennsylvania |
County or Region of Crime: |
Adams |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Barry Laughman was wrongly convicted in 1988 of rape and murder of a distant cousin, 85 year old Edna Laughman, on August 13, 1987, after he was induced to falsely confess by the same State Patrolman who took $50,000 from crime writer Joseph Wambauth to arrest Barry Smith in the case that Wambaugh's book - Echoes in the Darkness was based on. Laughman was released from prison on $30,000 unsecured bail in November 2003 when DNA tests excluded him as the woman's attacker, On August 26, 2004 charges were dismissed when the prosecution declined to retry him. Barry Laughman spent 16 years wrongly imprisoned. Settled a federal civil rights lawsuit in August 2007 for an undisclosed amount of money." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"False confession induced by the same Pennsylvania State Patrolman who took $50,000 from crime writer Joseph Wambauth to arrest Barry Smith in the case that Wambaugh's book - Echoes in the Darkness was based on." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Charges dismissed on August 26, 2004 after the prosecution conceded it lacked evidence Barry Laughman was involved in the rape/murder of his distant cousin, 85 year old Edna Laughman." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Investigative reporter Pete Shellem with the Harrisburg Patriot-News and Innocence Project (NY) |
Compensation Awarded: |
Undisclosed settlement |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
25 |
Age When Released: |
41 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Charges Dropped Against Man Freed by DNA, AP Harrisburg, PA, 08-26-04" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-DNA-Mismatch.html |
Information Source 2: |
"For Laughman, Justice is Served, Pete Shellem, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA, 08-27-04" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1093598400105660.xml?pennnews |
Information Source 3: |
"Evidence Expected to clear Laughman, Pete Shellem, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA, 08-26-04" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1093512084281920.xml?pennnews |
Information Source 4: |
"The Sleuth, By Mario Cattabiani, American Journalism Review, June-July 2007" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4341 |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org