Marvin Mitchell

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	9 to 25 years
Years Imprisoned:	8.5
Year Crime:	1988
Year Convicted:	1990
Year Cleared:	1997
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Suffolk
City of Crime:	Dorchester
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Marvin Mitchell was wrongly convicted in January 1990 of raping a 12-year-old girl in Dorchester, Massachusetts on September 22, 1988. Mitchell was sentenced to 9 to 25 years in prison. Post-conviction DNA testing excluded Mitchell as the girl's assailant. Mitchell filed a petition for a new trial that was granted on April 23, 1997. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to retry Mitchell, and filed a motion to dismiss is indictment based on the new evidence that "establishes that the defendant did not commit the offense ..." Mitchell was the first Massachusetts prisoner to be released based on new DNA evidence. Mitchell filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Boston, the Boston PD, and officers involved in his prosecution, that alleged they engaged in a conspiracy to convict him with fabricated evidence and perjured testimony. Marvin Mitchel and Boston settled the lawsuit for $450,000. In 2005 Marvin Mitchell filed a claim for compensation from the State of Massachusetts under G.L.C. 258D, and his claim was settled for $500,000 in 2007."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	Post-conviction DNA testing excluded Mitchell as the assailant.
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:	"$950,000 total. $450,000 (Suffolk County) and $500,000 (State of Massachusetts, 2007)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	21
Age When Released:	29
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Nation's Bogus convictions may number in the thousands, by Kay Lazar (staff), Boston Herald, May 9, 1999"
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Information Source 2:	"Stanley Z. Fisher, Convictions of Innocent Persons in Massachusetts: An Overview,” 12 Boston Univ. Public Interest L.J. 1, 13-14 (2002)."
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Marvin Mitchell

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

9 to 25 years

Years Imprisoned:

8.5

Year Crime:

1988

Year Convicted:

1990

Year Cleared:

1997

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Dorchester

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Post-conviction DNA testing excluded Mitchell as the assailant.

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

"$950,000 total. $450,000 (Suffolk County) and $500,000 (State of Massachusetts, 2007)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

21

Age When Released:

29

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Nation's Bogus convictions may number in the thousands, by Kay Lazar (staff), Boston Herald, May 9, 1999"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Stanley Z. Fisher, Convictions of Innocent Persons in Massachusetts: An Overview,” 12 Boston Univ. Public Interest L.J. 1, 13-14 (2002)."

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Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: