Thomas R. Merrill

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Charge:	Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	6
Year Crime:	1989
Year Convicted:	1991
Year Cleared:	1995
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	Orange
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Thomas R. Merrill was wrongly convicted twice of the wounding of the owner of Newport Coin Exchange in Newport Bay, California and the killing of the owner's wife and a close friend during a robbery of the coin shop in March, 1989. Thomas Merrill was convicted due to prosecutorial concealment of exculpatory witness evidence. He was sentenced ot 25 years to life in prison. Merrill's first conviction was in 1991 and his second in 1993. Merrill was acquitted by a jury on October 14, 1995 after his third trial. After his acquittal Merrill told reporters, "Prosecutors look at it as a game, or a fight. . . . They think they can do everything to win. But they carry it too far. They never admit when they're wrong. They keep going, and going and going.""
Conviction Caused By:	Prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory witness evidence.
Innocence Proved By:	"Thomas Merrill was acquitted by a jury on October 14, 1995 after his third trial."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	25
Age When Released:	31
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Ex-Marine Acquitted in 3rd O.C. Murder Trial : Courts: Jurors say evidence was too weak against Thomas R. Merrill in the 1989 coin shop slayings, By Ken Ellingwood (Staff writer), Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1995"
Information Location 1:	http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-14/news/mn-56744_1_thomas-merrill
Information Source 2:	"Not Guilty After All, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004"
Information Location 2:	http://sanfran.com/archives/view_story/200/
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Thomas R. Merrill

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

6

Year Crime:

1989

Year Convicted:

1991

Year Cleared:

1995

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Orange

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory witness evidence.

Innocence Proved By:

"Thomas Merrill was acquitted by a jury on October 14, 1995 after his third trial."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

25

Age When Released:

31

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Ex-Marine Acquitted in 3rd O.C. Murder Trial : Courts: Jurors say evidence was too weak against Thomas R. Merrill in the 1989 coin shop slayings, By Ken Ellingwood (Staff writer), Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1995"

Information Location 1:

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-14/news/mn-56744_1_thomas-merrill

Information Source 2:

"Not Guilty After All, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004"

Information Location 2:

http://sanfran.com/archives/view_story/200/

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Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: