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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
12 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
1.8 |
Year Crime: |
2015 |
Year Convicted: |
2016 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Florida - Federal Case |
County or Region of Crime: |
Miami-Dade |
City of Crime: |
Miami |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Terry Pierre Louis was wrongly convicted in 2016 in federal court in Miami, Florida of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Terry Louis was prosecuted based on the allegation that he knew that two boxes someone else placed in the backseat of his car unloaded from a freighter contained cocaine. Louis worked for the owner of the freighter (Ana Cecilia). The U.S. Customs and Border Protection had received a tip that there was narcotics aboard the Ana Cecilia. Louis' car was stopped as it left the entrance to the shipyard. Louis defense was that he didn't know what was in the boxes, and during Louis' two-day trial the prosecution introduced no evidence that he knew, only inferring that he must have known. After the prosecution rested its case, the trial judge denied a motion by Louis' lawyer for an acquittal based on the prosecution's failure to prove the essential element that he knew an illegal substance was in the boxes. The trial judge also denied a motion by Louis' lawyer for an acquittal after the jury returned its guilty verdict. Terry Louis was sentenced to 151 months (12 years and 7 months) in federal prison. Louis appealed. On July 10, 2017 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit unanimously reversed Terry Louis' conviction on the basis the prosecution failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove "that Louis knew [placing the box in the backseat of his car] this was a conspiracy involving a controlled substance or that he knew he was in possession of a controlled substance." [(USA v. Terry Pierre Louis, No. 16-11349 (11th Cir., 7/10/2017)] The Court's ruling stated: "The burden is on the government to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S. Ct. 1068, 1072 (1970). When a man’s liberty is at stake, we must be vigilant with this burden. The government failed to offer evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that Terry Pierre Louis had knowledge that the boxes placed in the backseat of his car contained a controlled substance. Without proof of this essential element, the government has failed to meet its burden. Therefore, we must reverse." [Id.]" |
Conviction Caused By: |
Prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove Louis knew someone had placed cocaine in the back of his car. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 10, 2017 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed Terry Louis' conviction on the basis the prosecution failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove "that Louis knew [placing the box in the backseat of his car] this was a conspiracy involving a controlled substance or that he knew he was in possession of a controlled substance." [(USA v. Terry Pierre Louis, No. 16-11349 (11th Cir., 7/10/2017)]" |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"USA v. Terry Pierre Louis, No. 16-11349 (11th Cir., 7/10/2017) (Reversing conviction based on insufficient evidence.)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201611349.pdf |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org