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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Rape, Robbery and Assault" |
Sentence: |
13-1/2 to 40 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
21.5 |
Year Crime: |
1984 |
Year Convicted: |
1985 |
Year Cleared: |
2006 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Bronx |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Alan Newton was wrongly convicted in May 1985 of the rape, robbery and assault of a 25-year-old woman at about 4 a.m. on June 23, 1984 in an abandoned building in the Bronx, New York City. The woman picked Alan Newton's picture out from a series of nearly 200 photos while in the hospital recovering from surgery. She also identified Newton in a lineup and again at trial. Newton's alibi defense was that on the evening of June 22 he saw the movie Ghostbusters in Brooklyn with his fiancé, her daughter, and other relatives, and that aftwards he went to his fiancé’s residence in Queens, where they watched television until early in the morning, and he then spent the night, and he eat breakfast there in the morning. Newton’s alibi was corroborated at trial by his fiancé and her daughter. After the jury convicted Newton, he was sentenced to 13-1/2 to 40 years in prison. DNA testing of crime scene evidence was not commercially available until 1989. On August 16, 1994 Newton requested DNA testing of the victim's rape kit that included semen of her assailant. The request was denied in November 1994 based on the prosecution's claim the rape kit couldn't be located. In 2005 Newton again requested DNA testing, and the rape kit was located in November 2005 Newton was released on July 6, 2006, after testing of the assailant's semen in the woman's rape kit by DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the woman's attacker. Newton was wrongly incarcerated for more than 22 years from the time of his arrest. Newton filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against several defendants, including the New York City Police Department and two officers. On October 19, 2010, a federal court jury awarded Newton $18,592,000 for the violation of his constitutional rights by the New York City Police Department and two officers for failure to locate the woman's rape kit in 1994. For almost 12 years the city failed to locate the rape kit that ultimately proved Newton's innocence. Newton was only awarded damages for those 12 years, and not for the preceeding 9+ years of incarceration. The city filed a motion challenging the verdict, and on May 12, 2011 U.S. District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin reversed the jury's verdict and dismissed Newton's lawsuit, ruling that Newton had only proved the city acted negligently, not that any city employee had violated his constitutional rights by withholding evidence for DNA testing. Newton appealed Judge Scheindlin's ruling. In February 2015 the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the judge's rulings, and reinstated the jury's verdict. The City of New York submitted a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the petition on January 11, 2016. Newton's lawyer, John F. Schutty, stated that Newton would be seeking payment of the full amount plus interest, and also Newton's substantial attorney's fees and costs. However, when the case was remanded back to Judge Scheindlin's court she reduced the award to $12 million and told Newton he could either accept her decision or go forward with a new trial. Schutty said about the judge's ruling: "Mr. Newton was placed in a "Catch-22" situation — accept the $12 million or face a new trial before a judge determined to ensure that he received $12 million or less." In April 2016 Newton agreed to accept the $12 million. In January 2017 Judge Scheindlin ruled that John Schutty was entitled to legal fees of $2.9 million for his nine years of work on Newton's civil case. The City of New York was to pay Schutty's legal fees." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous identification by the victim and the NYPD's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence. |
Innocence Proved By: |
DNA tests unavailable at the time of his conviction excluded him as the woman's attacker. |
Defendant Aided By: |
Innocence Project at Cordozo Univ School of Law. Represented in civil lawsuit by attorney John Schutty. |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$12,000,000 (New York City, April 2016) and $2.9 million in legal fees (New York City, Jan. 2017)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
22 |
Age When Released: |
44 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Yet Another Triumph For Advocates, by Chrisena Coleman, New York Daily News, July 7, 2006" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/433192p-364974c.html |
Information Source 2: |
"$18.5 Million to Ex-Inmate Cleared by DNA Evidence, By Anahad O'Connor (staff), New York Times, October 19, 2010" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/nyregion/20award.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Ruling Blocks $18.5 Million to Man Freed in Rape Case, By James Barron (staff), The New York Times, May 12, 2011" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/nyregion/man-exonerated-in-rape-case-has-18-5-million-verdict-overturned.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Email to Hans Sherrer from attorney John F Schutty dated January 27, 2016, stating that his client Alan Newton would be seeking full payment plus interest, attorney's fees and costs, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied review on Jan. 11, 2016 of New York City's appeal of the jury's $18,592,000 judgment because of the NYPD violation of Newton's constitutional rights." |
Information Location 4: |
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Information Source 5: |
"Brooklyn man wrongfully convicted of 1985 sex assault accepts reduced $12M award, By Victoria Bekiempis (Staff), New York Daily News, April 19, 2016" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/wrongfully-convicted-man-accepts-reduced-12m-award-article-1.2606703 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org