Clarence Moses-El

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Charge:	"Rape, Assault & Burglary"
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	28
Year Crime:	1987
Year Convicted:	1988
Year Cleared:	2016
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Colorado
County or Region of Crime:	Denver
City of Crime:	Denver
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Clarence Moses-El was wrongly convicted on April 7, 1988 of rape, second-degree assault and burglary of a woman in Denver, Colorado. Moses-El's prosecution was based on his identification by the victim, and a crime lab analyst testified that blood-type testing of her assailan't semen couldn’t exclude him. Moses-El's alibi defense was he was at home at the time the woman was assaulted. After the jury convicted Moses-El he was sentenced to 48 years in prison. After his convictions were affirmed on appeal, Moses-El's post-conviction petition was denied that asserted ineffective assistance of his trial lawyer. Moses-El raised money to pay for DNA testing and obtained court orders for preservation and testing of the biological evidence in his case. The evidence was in a box marked "Do Not Destroy," but after Moses-El obtained the orders the Denver PD disposed of the evidence in the trash. Moses-El filed a petition to overturn his conviction arguing that the evidence destruction violated his right to due process. The petition was denied. L.C. Jackson was the person that the victim initially named as her assailant, and the testified as a defense witness he drank beer with the victim on the evening of the attack in the home of L.C.'s girlfriend. Jackson wrote In 2012 Jackson, who was in prison, wrote a letter to Moses-EL that suggested he had committed the crimes Moses-El had been convicted of committing. When Jackson was contacted by investigators he admitted entering the victim's home and having what he said was consensual sexual with her, and then beating her face. Based on the new evidence Moses-El filed a petition for a new trial. During an evidentiary hearing Jackson testified that he entered the woman's residence, engaged in sex, and beat her. Denver County District Judge Kandace Gerdes granted Moses-EL’s petition in December 2015 and ordered a new trial. Moses-EL was released on bond on December 22, 2015. During Moses-El's retrial the victim recanted her trial testimony that identified Moses-El, and she said she recognized her assailant was Jackson from when he turned a light on after she was raped. The prosecution challenged the credibility of her testimony. Forensic expert testified that Moses-El was excluded as a possible source of the blood originally tested in 1987, because he had blood type B, and the perpetrator had blood type O, which is what Jackson was. Jackson was called as a witness but he asserted his right against self-incrimination when questioned about his statements and evidentiary hearing testimony. Jackson's girlfriend at the time of the assault testified that he wasn't at her residence during the time the attack took place. The jury acquitted Clarence Moses-El on November 14, 2016."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On November 14, 2016 Clarence Moses-El was acquitted by a jury after a retrial."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	32
Age When Released:	60
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Denver man found innocent after 28 years in jail on rape conviction based on victim's dream, By Reuters, The Straits Times, November 15, 2016"
Information Location 1:	http://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/denver-man-found-innocent-after-28-years-in-jail-on-rape-conviction-based-on
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Clarence Moses-El

Charge:

"Rape, Assault & Burglary"

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

28

Year Crime:

1987

Year Convicted:

1988

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Colorado

County or Region of Crime:

Denver

City of Crime:

Denver

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On November 14, 2016 Clarence Moses-El was acquitted by a jury after a retrial."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

32

Age When Released:

60

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Denver man found innocent after 28 years in jail on rape conviction based on victim's dream, By Reuters, The Straits Times, November 15, 2016"

Information Location 1:

http://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/denver-man-found-innocent-after-28-years-in-jail-on-rape-conviction-based-on

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