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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Death |
Years Imprisoned: |
28 |
Year Crime: |
1988 |
Year Convicted: |
1996 |
Year Cleared: |
2020 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Pennsylvania |
County or Region of Crime: |
Philadelphia |
City of Crime: |
Philadelphia |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Walter Ogrod was wrongly convicted in 1996 of first degree murder in the death of 4-year-old Barbara Jean Horn in July 1988 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ogrod's prosecution was based on his confession in 1992 four years after the murder. Ogrod signed each page of his 16-page statement. There was no physical or eyewitness evidence linking Ogrod to the crime. Ogrod's first trial ended in a hung jury. After his conviction by a jury Ogrod was sentenced to death on October 9, 1996. In February 2018 Ogrod's lawyers asked the newly reformed Philadelphia County District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit to review Ogrod's case. After the investigation, the CIU Chief and the Philadelphia DA's Office joined the petition seeking that Ogrod's convictions be vacated, on the basis that exculpatory evidence had illegally been withheld from his trial lawyers. Ogrod was released on bond on June 5, 2020, and the DA's motion to dismiss the charges was granted on June 10, 2020. In June 2021 Ogrod filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"Ogrod was released on bond on June 5, 2020, and the DA's motion to dismiss the charges was granted on June 10, 2020." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
27 |
Age When Released: |
55 |
Sex: |
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Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
Walterogrod.com |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.walterogrod.com/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Man who wrongfully spent 23 years on death row is finally freed, By Sam Corbishley, Metro (UK), June 6, 2020" |
Information Location 2: |
https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/06/man-who-wrongfully-spent-23-years-death-row-finally-freed-12813511/ |
Information Source 3: |
"Former death row inmate Walter Ogrod suing Philadelphia after murder conviction overturned, Fox 29 (Philadelpha), June 2, 2021." |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.fox29.com/news/former-death-row-inmate-walter-ogrod-suing-philadelphia-after-murder-conviction-overturned |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org