DeWayne McKinney

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	19
Year Crime:	1980
Year Convicted:	1981
Year Cleared:	2000
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	San Bernardino
City of Crime:	Ontario
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"DeWayne McKinney was at home in Ontario, California laid up with a leg injury that required he use crutches at the time a Burger King manager was killed during a robbery on December 11, 1980 in Orange, CA 30 miles away. There was no physical evidence DeWayne McKinney was involved, but four eyewitnesses falsely identified McKinney as the shooter. Two of those witnesses initially told police the shooter was a cleanly shaven black man that walked quickly: at the time of the shooting McKinney was bearded and he walked slowly with a limp from a leg injury he suffered several weeks before. Upon his release after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment, prosecuting Orange County, CA DA Rackauckas was unrepentant. The "system worked," he said. Rackauckas' media spokesperson was equally unapologetic about McKinney's wrongful prosecution: "We did the right thing. There is nothing to apologize for." McKinney was given $200 and prison issued street clothes when he was released, less than 2 hours after a Superior Court judge ordered his release. In 2002 McKinney settled his federal civil rights lawsuit against Orange County for $1.7 million, and after taxes and legal fees he received about $1 million. On September 7, 2007 the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board denied McKinney's petition for compensation in ruling that he did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence "that he did not, either intentionally or negligently, contribute to his arrest or conviction for those offenses." McKinney was 47 when he died on October 7, 2008 after the Moped he was riding crashed in Honolulu, where he was living. McKinney, who wisely invested his civil settlement in an ATM business and real-estate, was a multi-millionaire at the time of his death."
Conviction Caused By:	"Erroneous eyewitness testimony, sloppy police investigation and handling of eyewitnesses, and prosecutorial misconduct of ignoring ironclad evidence of McKinney's innocence."
Innocence Proved By:	"The getaway driver confessed, identified the actual killer, and confirmed that McKinney had nothing to do with the holdup or murder."
Defendant Aided By:	Orange County Public Defender's Office Spent two years reconstructing the crime and accumulating evidence of McKinney's innocence.
Compensation Awarded:	"$1,700,000 (Orange County, Calif., 2002)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	20
Age When Released:	39
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	""The 19-Year Ordeal of Dwayne McKinney: Injured and on Crutches 30 Miles Away From a Murder Is Finally Recognized as an Alibi," Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 11."
Information Location 1:	http://www.justicedenied.org/v1issue11.htm#Free%20At%20Last%20...%20Wilbert%20Thomas
Information Source 2:	"“Third Strike: It’s time to dump a DA who has broken faith with the public in at least three crucial cases, R. Scott Moxley (staff), Orange County Weekly, Orange County, CA, Sept. 1-7, 2000,"
Information Location 2:	http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/00/52/news-moxley.php
Information Source 3:	"From Prison To Paradise for ATMs, Stuart Pfeifer (staff), Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2005"
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:	"DeWayne McKinney Dies After Moped Crash, by Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied magazine, Summer 2008, p. 15."
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:	"In the Matter of the Claim of Dwayne McKinney, No. G507450, Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board of the State of California, September 7, 2007 (Proposed decision denying compensation claim)"
Information Location 5:	http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/docs/pc4900/PC-4900-Denied-McKinney.pdf
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DeWayne McKinney

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

19

Year Crime:

1980

Year Convicted:

1981

Year Cleared:

2000

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

San Bernardino

City of Crime:

Ontario

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Erroneous eyewitness testimony, sloppy police investigation and handling of eyewitnesses, and prosecutorial misconduct of ignoring ironclad evidence of McKinney's innocence."

Innocence Proved By:

"The getaway driver confessed, identified the actual killer, and confirmed that McKinney had nothing to do with the holdup or murder."

Defendant Aided By:

Orange County Public Defender's Office Spent two years reconstructing the crime and accumulating evidence of McKinney's innocence.

Compensation Awarded:

"$1,700,000 (Orange County, Calif., 2002)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

20

Age When Released:

39

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

""The 19-Year Ordeal of Dwayne McKinney: Injured and on Crutches 30 Miles Away From a Murder Is Finally Recognized as an Alibi," Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 11."

Information Location 1:

http://www.justicedenied.org/v1issue11.htm#Free%20At%20Last%20...%20Wilbert%20Thomas

Information Source 2:

"“Third Strike: It’s time to dump a DA who has broken faith with the public in at least three crucial cases, R. Scott Moxley (staff), Orange County Weekly, Orange County, CA, Sept. 1-7, 2000,"

Information Location 2:

http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/00/52/news-moxley.php

Information Source 3:

"From Prison To Paradise for ATMs, Stuart Pfeifer (staff), Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2005"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

"DeWayne McKinney Dies After Moped Crash, by Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied magazine, Summer 2008, p. 15."

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

"In the Matter of the Claim of Dwayne McKinney, No. G507450, Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board of the State of California, September 7, 2007 (Proposed decision denying compensation claim)"

Information Location 5:

http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/docs/pc4900/PC-4900-Denied-McKinney.pdf

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