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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
"6 months, suspended driver's license & $830 fine" |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.1 |
Year Crime: |
2018 |
Year Convicted: |
2018 |
Year Cleared: |
2019 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Florida |
County or Region of Crime: |
Martin |
City of Crime: |
Stuart |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Melissa Morales was wrongly convicted on December 11, 2018 of possession of contraband in a correctional facility and possession of methamphetamine in Martin County, Florida. After she pled guilty Morales was sentenced to six months in jail, her driver's license was suspended, and she was fined $830. A month after her conviction, Morales' arresting officer, Stevem O'Leary, was fired on January 15, 2019 for fabricating drug test evidence in numerous cases that included Morales' case -- in which the lab test of the substance O'Leary seized was negative for the presence of a controlled substance. Morales' public defender filed a motion to withdraw her guilty plea based on the new lab test evidence she had not committed a crime. The State's Attorney's Office did not oppose her motion, which was granted, and her charges were then dismissed." |
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Innocence Proved By: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
37 |
Age When Released: |
37 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Melissa Morales, National Registry of Exonerations" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org