Perry Mitchell

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Charge:	Sexual Assault (includes aggravated)
Sentence:	30 years
Years Imprisoned:	14.67
Year Crime:	1982
Year Convicted:	1984
Year Cleared:	1998
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	South Carolina
County or Region of Crime:	Lexington
City of Crime:	Lexington
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Perry Mitchell was wrongly convicted on January 23, 1984 of the first-degree sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in woods near his home in Lexington, South Carolina. The prosecution's case was based on the victim's identification of Perry first from a line-up, and then during his trial, and a forensic analyst's testimony that blood group markers in semen on the victim's underwear recovered from the crime scene was consistent with Mitchell's blood type. He also testified that Mitchell's blood type is shared by 35% of the population. After the jury convicted Michell he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In June 1998 post-conviction DNA testing of the semen excluded Mitchell. Based on the new DNA evidence Perry Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial that was granted. The prosecution elected not to retry him, the charges were dismissed, and Mitchell was released on August 4, 1998 -- fifteen years and eight months after his arrest in January 1983."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification testimony and misleading expert forensic testimony.
Innocence Proved By:	"Based on new post-conviction DNA evidence Perry Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial that was granted. The prosecution elected not to retry him, the charges were dismissed, and Mitchell was released on August 4, 1998."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	20
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	Innocence Project database
Information Location 1:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=55
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Perry Mitchell

Charge:

Sexual Assault (includes aggravated)

Sentence:

30 years

Years Imprisoned:

14.67

Year Crime:

1982

Year Convicted:

1984

Year Cleared:

1998

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

South Carolina

County or Region of Crime:

Lexington

City of Crime:

Lexington

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification testimony and misleading expert forensic testimony.

Innocence Proved By:

"Based on new post-conviction DNA evidence Perry Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial that was granted. The prosecution elected not to retry him, the charges were dismissed, and Mitchell was released on August 4, 1998."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

20

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

Innocence Project database

Information Location 1:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=55

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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