|
Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
23 |
Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Year Convicted: |
1985 |
Year
Cleared:
|
2008 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Texas |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary
of Case:
|
Wrongly convicted in 1985 of a May 1985 rape based on the victim's identification. He was sentenced to life in prison. In 1986 he was prosecuted for the burglary of the woman's apartment, and after his separate conviction for that crime he was given a second life sentence. In 2008 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the woman's assailant and he was released in April 2008 after 23 years of wrongful imprisonment. Officially exonerated by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on June 11, 2008. It was announced on June 17, 2008 that the DNA matched a man imprisoned on another charge, and when confronted, Kenneth Woodson admitted to the crime, but the five-year statute of limitations had expired so he wouldn't be charged. |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
Erroneous eyewitness identification of the victim. |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
In 2008 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the woman's assailant and he was released in April 2008 after 23 years of wrongful imprisonment.
|
Defendant
Aided By:
|
Innocence Project New York |
Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
|
Age
When Released:
|
|
Information Source 1: |
Richardson man becomes 16th dallas county inmate cleared by dna since 2001, Dallas Morning News, April 17, 2008 |
Information
Location 1:
|
|
Information
Source 2:
|
Dna frees man who spent almost 23 years in prison for rape, The Associated Press, April 17, 2008 |
Information
Location 2:
|
|
Information
Source 3:
|
Texas Appeals court officially clears wrongly convicted man, International Herald Tribune, June 11, 2008 |
Information
Location 3:
|
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/11/america/NA-GEN-US-DNA-Exoneration.php |
Information
Source 4:
|
After 23 Years, One More Wrongfully Convicted Dallas Man Tastes Freedom, By Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer, April 17 2008 |
Information
Location 4:
|
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/04/clay_graham_a_newly_minted.php |
Information
Source 5:
|
|
Information
Location 5:
|
|
Ethnicity/Skin:
|
Black |
Book
About
Case:
|
|
Book
Information:
|
|
Book About Case (2): |
|
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
|
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org