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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
12 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
3.67 |
Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Niagara |
City of Crime: |
North Tonawanda |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Jennifer Marchant was wrongly convicted on January 15, 2014 of first-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of her boyfriend in their apartment in North Tonawanda, New York. Marchant's defense was her boyfriend Ralph D. Stone Jr. was physically abusive, and he was attacking her and drunk so she was in fear of her life when she stabbed him. Toxicology tests showed that Stone's blood alcohol level was 0.285 -- 3-1/2 times the legal threshold for intoxication -- at the time of his death. After her conviction by a jury Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas sentenced Jennifer R. Marchant to 12 years in prison, even though the three North Tonawanda detectives that investigated the case thought she acted in self-defense and didn't commit a crime. On July 27, 2017 the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department reversed Marchant's conviction by a 3 to 2 ruling that she acted in self-defense and therefore her manslaughter conviction was "against the weight of the evidence." Marchant was released on bond on August 2, 2017. On August 25, 2017 Niagara County District Attorney Caroline A. Wojtaszek announced the ruling was unappealable under New York State law because it was based on a factual determination, and not an issue of law, so the charges would be dismissed against Marchant." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 27, 2017 the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department reversed Marchant's conviction by a 3 to 2 ruling that she acted in self-defense and therefore her manslaughter conviction was "against the weight of the evidence." Marchant was released on bond on August 2, 2017. On August 25, 2017 Niagara County District Attorney Caroline A. Wojtaszek announced the ruling was unappeal under New York State law, so the charges would be dismissed against Marchant." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
24 |
Age When Released: |
27 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"People v. Marchant, 2017 NY Slip Op 5918 (NY Appellate Div., 4th Dept. 2017) (Reversing manslaughter because it was "against the weight of the evidence" she acted in lawful self-defense against deadly force by her boyfriend.)" |
Information Location 1: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6765914900440857338&q=Jennifer+Marchant&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 2: |
"Niagara DA won't appeal dismissal of manslaughter conviction, By Thomas J. Prohaska, The Buffalo News, August 25, 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
http://buffalonews.com/2017/08/25/niagara-da-wont-appeal-overturn-manslaughter-conviction/ |
Information Source 3: |
"Judge reluctantly gives Marchant 12 years in prison for killing boyfriend, By Thomas J. Prohaska, The Buffalo News, March 26, 2014" |
Information Location 3: |
http://buffalonews.com/2014/03/26/judge-reluctantly-gives-marchant-12-years-in-prison-for-killing-boyfriend/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org