Roland Phinney

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	17
Year Crime:	1980
Year Convicted:	1990
Year Cleared:	2008
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Middlesex
City of Crime:	Lowell
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Roland Phinney was wrongly convicted of first-degree murder in 1989 of a murder committed in 1980 in Lowell, Massachusetts. The prosecution's case was based on Phinney's confession that he retracted as coerced by his police interrogators. After Phinney's conviction by a jury he was sentenced to life in prison. After years of imprisonment Phinney discovered that the prosecution failed to disclose favorable evidence implicating another suspect in the crime. Phinney filed a petition for a new trial based on the new evidence the prosecution failed to disclose Brady evidence, which was granted in 2003. After the Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court upheld the grant of a new trial in March 2006, Phinney was released on bond in June 2006. Phinney was acquitted after a retrial in March 2008."
Conviction Caused By:	"Phinney falsely confessed to the murder, and the prosecution failed to disclose evidence to his trial lawyer that there was another viable suspect to commission of the crime."
Innocence Proved By:	"Phinney filed a petition for a new trial based on the new evidence the prosecution failed to disclose Brady evidence, which was granted in 2003. After the Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court upheld the grant of a new trial in March 2006, Phinney was released on bond in June 2006. Phinney was acquitted after a retrial in March 2008."
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Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	36
Age When Released:	53
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Roland Phinney, The National Registry of Exonerations"
Information Location 1:	https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3534
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Roland Phinney

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

17

Year Crime:

1980

Year Convicted:

1990

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Middlesex

City of Crime:

Lowell

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Phinney falsely confessed to the murder, and the prosecution failed to disclose evidence to his trial lawyer that there was another viable suspect to commission of the crime."

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

36

Age When Released:

53

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Roland Phinney, The National Registry of Exonerations"

Information Location 1:

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3534

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Book About Case:

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Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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