Juan Roberto Melendez

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	19
Year Crime:	1983
Year Convicted:	1984
Year Cleared:	2002
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Florida
County or Region of Crime:	Polk
City of Crime:	Auburndale
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Juan Roberto Melendez aka Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon was wrongly convicted of murdering a store owner during a robbery on the basis of eyewitness testimony, although no physical or forensic evidence linked him to the crime. Melendez was sentenced to death. In 1999 Juan Melendez's attorney discovered that prosecutors had not disclosed that another man, Vernon James, had credibly confessed to at least four investigators or attorneys. Based on the new evidence Melendez-Colon's conviction was overturned in December 2001, and he was released on January 3, 2002 after spending 17 years 8 months and 1 day on Florida's death row. Melendez received no compensation."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness testimony and prosecution failed to disclose that another man had given credible confessions to four investigators and attorneys.
Innocence Proved By:	"Exonerating testimony previously undisclosed by the prosecution resulted in the vacating of Melendez's conviction and death sentence on December 2001. The prosecution dropped the charges and he was released on January 3, 2002."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	33
Age When Released:	52
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Information Source 1:	"State of Florida v. Juan Roberto Melendez, No. CF-84-1016A2-XX (Tenth Judicial Circuit Court for Polk County, Florida December 2001)"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Florida death row inmate to be released, 99th freed nationwide, By Vickie Chachere (AP writer), The Florida Times-Union, January 3, 2002"
Information Location 2:	http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/010302/D7GQ8SJO0.html
Information Source 3:	Death Penalty Information Center
Information Location 3:	http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html
Information Source 4:	Juan Melendez website
Information Location 4:	http://ccadp.org/juanmelendez.htm
Information Source 5:	"Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon, Wikipedia.org"
Information Location 5:	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Roberto_Melendez-Colon
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Juan Roberto Melendez

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

19

Year Crime:

1983

Year Convicted:

1984

Year Cleared:

2002

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Florida

County or Region of Crime:

Polk

City of Crime:

Auburndale

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness testimony and prosecution failed to disclose that another man had given credible confessions to four investigators and attorneys.

Innocence Proved By:

"Exonerating testimony previously undisclosed by the prosecution resulted in the vacating of Melendez's conviction and death sentence on December 2001. The prosecution dropped the charges and he was released on January 3, 2002."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

33

Age When Released:

52

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

"State of Florida v. Juan Roberto Melendez, No. CF-84-1016A2-XX (Tenth Judicial Circuit Court for Polk County, Florida December 2001)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Florida death row inmate to be released, 99th freed nationwide, By Vickie Chachere (AP writer), The Florida Times-Union, January 3, 2002"

Information Location 2:

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/010302/D7GQ8SJO0.html

Information Source 3:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 3:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html

Information Source 4:

Juan Melendez website

Information Location 4:

http://ccadp.org/juanmelendez.htm

Information Source 5:

"Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon, Wikipedia.org"

Information Location 5:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Roberto_Melendez-Colon

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: