Lawrence J. Miller Jr.

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Charge:	Assault (Including Battery)
Sentence:	32 years
Years Imprisoned:	12.5
Year Crime:	1981
Year Convicted:	1983
Year Cleared:	1997
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Connecticut
County or Region of Crime:	Fairfield
City of Crime:	Danbury
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Lawrence J. Miller Jr, was wrongly convicted in 1983 of assaulting two teenagers in Danbury, Connecticut on August 20, 1981. The jury convicted Miller based on the testimony of the victims, and he was sentenced to 32 years in prison. While Miller was imprisoned Daniel Johnston, who was imprisoned for an urelated crime, confessed to his attorney that he had committed the assaults that Miller had been convicted of committing. Miller filed a state habeas corpus petition asserting he was actually innocent, and after an evidentiary hearing at which Johnston testified, the judge granted Miller's petition. Miller was released on bond in December 1996. The prosecution appealed, and on August 26, 1997 the Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's granting of Lawrence J. Miller Jr,'s habeas corpus petition based on new evidence of his actual innocence. Miller's case set the precedent that a habeas petitioner must present clear and convincing new evidence of his or her actual innocence -- which Miller's new evidence satisfied. The charges against Miler were dismissed in October 2007. Miller filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Danbury and its police department that was settled in 2000 for $1,050,000. In September 2015 the State of Connecticut's Claims Commissioner ruled that Miller was convicted and imprisoned for "a crime that he did not commit," and awarded him $5.1 million. The award was comprised of $2.4 million for loss of liberty and enjoyment of life; $2 million for loss of earnings; $400,000 for loss of reputation; $100,000 for physical and mental injuries; and $200,000 for costs, legal fees and expenses. The Commissioner deducted the $1.05 million from Miller's successful civil rights lawsuit against Danbury, so the net award was $4,050,000 for his 12-1/2 years of wrongful imprisonment."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification by the two victims.
Innocence Proved By:	"On August 26, 1997 the Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's granting of Lawrence J. Miller Jr,'s habeas corpus petition based on new evidence of his actual innocence."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$5,100,000 total. $4,050,000 (State of Connecticut, 2015), $1,050,000 (City of Danbury, 2000)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	36
Age When Released:	52
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Miller v. Comm'r of Corr., 242 Conn. 745, 700 A.2d 1108, 1132 (1997)"
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Information Source 2:	"Branford man receives $4 million from state for wrongful imprisonment, By Randall Beach (Staff), New Haven Register, September 10, 2015"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20150910/NEWS/150919934
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Lawrence J. Miller Jr.

Charge:

Assault (Including Battery)

Sentence:

32 years

Years Imprisoned:

12.5

Year Crime:

1981

Year Convicted:

1983

Year Cleared:

1997

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Connecticut

County or Region of Crime:

Fairfield

City of Crime:

Danbury

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification by the two victims.

Innocence Proved By:

"On August 26, 1997 the Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's granting of Lawrence J. Miller Jr,'s habeas corpus petition based on new evidence of his actual innocence."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$5,100,000 total. $4,050,000 (State of Connecticut, 2015), $1,050,000 (City of Danbury, 2000)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

36

Age When Released:

52

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Miller v. Comm'r of Corr., 242 Conn. 745, 700 A.2d 1108, 1132 (1997)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Branford man receives $4 million from state for wrongful imprisonment, By Randall Beach (Staff), New Haven Register, September 10, 2015"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20150910/NEWS/150919934

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