Wrongly Convicted Database Record

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Ken Marsh

Years Imprisoned:

21

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Year Convicted:

1983

Year Cleared:

2004

Location of Trial:

California

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Ken Marsh was wrongly convicted of murdering his girlfriend's two-year old son. Marsh’s defense was that while babysitting the child fell off the couch and hit his head. The San Diego homicide detectives who investigated the case considered Marsh was innocent from the time he was questioned, however the San Diego County DA prosecuted Marsh for murder at the urging of doctors at the hospital where the child had been taken after falling. The doctors were not experts in forensic pathology. After Marsh was convicted by a jury he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He obtained new forensic pathology medical evidence supporting that the boy died from an accidental fall and the doctors at the hospital had misdiagnosed the child's injuries. Marsh filed a writ of habeas corpus based on the new evidence, and the writ that was granted by a San Diego Superior Court judge on August 10, 2004 and he was released later that day on his own recognizance. San Diego County DA Bonnie M. Dumanis retained an independent medical expert who agreed that the boy could have fallen from the back of a couch as Marsh had maintained from the time he was first questioned. He was exonerated on September 3, 2004 when the DA declined to retry him and the murder charge was dismissed. After his release Marsh married Brenda Buell Warter, the mother of the child who had died. Brenda had supported Marsh during his more than two decades in prison. Marsh filed a claim under California wrongful conviction compensation law, and in 2006 he was awarded $756,000 for his more than 21 years of wrongful imprisonment.

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous expert testimony by hospital doctors who were not trained in forensic pathology.

Innocence Proved By:

Conviction vacated on August 10, 2004, and charged dismissed on September 3, 2004.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

$756,000 (2006)

Was Perpetrator Found?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Information Source 1:

Toddler’s Accidental Death Ends With Babysitter’s Murder Conviction - The Ken Marsh Story, Brenda Buell-Warter, Justice Denied magazine, Issue 25, Summer 2004, p. 4

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Ethnicity/Skin:

White

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