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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
60 years with 35 year min. |
Years Imprisoned: |
22.22 |
Year Crime: |
1994 |
Year Convicted: |
1996 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New Jersey |
County or Region of Crime: |
Union |
City of Crime: |
Elizabeth |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Duquene Pierre was wrongly convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and several other charges related to the fatal shooting of Richard J. Myers in Elizabeth, New Jersey at 3:19 a.m. on March 20, 1994. Pierre was arrested on April 15, 1994 because he was a known associate of three other men implicated by one or more witnesses in the shooting. It wasn't until ten months after the shooting that one of the seven witnesses to the shooting changed her mind and said that she recognized Pierre as one of the men involved in the shooting, while looking at a photo array. Six months after the shooting another witness who lived in the victim's apartment building, suddenly remembered that she saw Pierre at the apartment building twice some hours after the shooting. Pierre's prosecution was based on his identification by the one witness, the testimony of the other witness that she saw him at the crime scene hours after it occurred, and that Pierre was a known friend of the other three men charged in the murder. Pierre's alibi defense was that at the time of the shooting he was in South Carolina --hundreds of miles south of Elizabeth -- while driving to Florida to visit an uncle and cousins. One of Pierre's codefendants was Jean L. Dorval, who was Pierre's driving companion to Florida. Although Pierre didn't testify, in support of his alibi defense he introduced into evidence a speeding ticket for driving 81 mph in a 65 mph zone that was issued to Pierre on Interstate 95 in Yemassee, South Carolina on March 19, 1994, at 11:34 p.m. -- less than four hours before the murder. Yemassee is 745 miles south of Elizabeth. The ticket included Pierre's driver's license number, his address in Elizabeth, and his name was signed. Pierre's girlfriend Yashonda Reid testified, and her phone bill was introduced into evidence, that she received a collect call from Pierre on March 20 at 12:32 p.m. -- hours after the murder -- from Hardeeville, South Carolina, which is 774 miles south of Elizabeth. The prosecution argued that Pierre's brother Kirby was driving Pierre's car, he was using Pierre's driver's license, and he impersonated Pierre when the speeding ticket was issued in South Carolina -- and that Pierre was actually in Elizabeth: even though no evidence was presented that Kirby was using Pierre's car and driver's license. After his conviction by the jury Pierre was sentenced on May 24, 1996 to 60 years in prison with a 35 year minimum before he was eligible for parole (Jean Dorval was also convicted and sentenced to 50 to 90 years in prison). Pierre's conviction was affirmed on direct appeal in 1999 and the New Jersey Supreme Court declined to review his case. In 2000 he filed a post-conviction review petition that was denied by the trial court, and Pierre appealed. Over a period of seven years Pierre's case went back and forth three times between the trial court and the court of appeals. During the course of that time Pierre was allowed to present additional alibi evidence during evidentiary hearings that he argued supported his claim his trial lawyer provided ineffective assistance of cousel for failing to investigate and/or present that evidence at trial. That new evidence included three of Pierre's relatives who testified that he was in Florida for a week beginning when he arrived on March 20, 1994; testimony that Pierre's brother Kirby could not drive, that Kirby was in New Jersey the entire month of March 1994, and that he had never visited Florida in his life; and that Pierre made collect telephone calls to his girlfriend from Florida a total of six times on four different days -- March 21, 23, 25 and 26, 1994. The trial court denied Pierre's petition on October 4, 2011 and he appealed. On June 4, 2013 the New Jersey Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court's denial of Pierre's petition: ruling that it did not think Pierre's new evidence would have likely changed the jury's verdict. The New Jersey Supreme Court accepted review of the appeals court's ruling. On December 17, 2015 the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously reversed the appeals court's ruling, and granted Duquene Pierre's petition, vacating his conviction and ordering a new trial. The Court's ruling stated: "The record before the PCR court establishes that defendant's trial counsel did not present evidence that would have both rebutted the State's theory regarding the South Carolina speeding ticket and supported defendant's alibi. Defendant has overcome the presumption that his trial counsel exercised reasonable professional judgment and developed a sound trial strategy. ... In light of the inconclusive evidence presented against defendant at trial and the potential impact of his alibi, had that alibi been fully developed before the jury, defendant has also demonstrated that counsel's errors prejudiced the defense and denied him a fair trial. ... Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division, vacate defendant's conviction, and remand this matter to the trial court for a new trial." State v. Pierre, 127 A. 3d 1260, 223 N.J. 560 (NJ Supreme Court, 12-17-2015). Pierre's petition was granted more than 15 years after he filed his PCR in 2000. The Union County District Attorney elected to retry Pierre. Pierre waived his right to a jury trial. On July 8, 2016 was acquitted after his retrial, and he was immediately released after more than 22 years in custody." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous eyewitness identification. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 8, 2016 Pierre was acquitted after a bench (judge only) trial. Pierre was immediately released after more than 22 years in custody." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
22 |
Age When Released: |
44 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"After 22 years behind bars, murder charge against Elizabeth man dropped, By Tom Haydon, NJ.com, July 12, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2016/07/murder_charge_dropped_man_served_22_years_behind_b.html |
Information Source 2: |
"State v. Pierre, 127 A. 3d 1260, 223 N.J. 560 (New Jersey Supreme Court, 12-17-2015) (Reversing Pierre's conviction based on ineffective assistance of counsel and ordering a retrial.)" |
Information Location 2: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7572868422297101657&q=State+v.+Duquene+Pierre&hl=en&as_sdt=4,31" |
Information Source 3: |
"State v. Pierre, No. No. A-1265-11T2 (New Jersey Appellate Div. 2013) (Affirming lower court ruling denying Pierre's post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel.)" |
Information Location 3: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9557871231938363059&q=State+v.+Duquene+Pierre&hl=en&as_sdt=4,31" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org