Marcella Pitts

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Charge:	Child Sex Abuse and Conspiracy
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment with 373 year minimum
Years Imprisoned:	6
Year Crime:	1984
Year Convicted:	1985
Year Cleared:	1991
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	Kern
City of Crime:	Bakersfield
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Marcella Pitts was one of the Pitt Seven. In August 1985 all seven were wrongly convicted in Kern County (Bakersfield) CA of a total of 377counts of child abuse and conspiracy. All seven convictions were reversed by the Calif. Ct. of Appeals in 1990 on the grounds that the wrongful convictions were procured by prosecutorial misconduct during the trial and closing arguments that were unprecedented in the Court's experience. "By 1994 all of the child witnesses had recanted and claimed their testimony was coerced." Pitts v. County of Kern at 347. Marcella Pitts and Ricky Lynn Pitts lost their federal civil rights lawsuit for financial compensation."
Conviction Caused By:	"Prosecutorial misconduct of presenting improper evidence, making improper and disparaging remarks about the defendants and defense counsel throughout the trial, and making improper remarks during closing arguments."
Innocence Proved By:	Conviction reversed by the CA Ct. of Appeals.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	Lost federal civil rights lawsuit
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	29
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"People v Pitts, 223 Cal. App. 3d 606 (1990); 273 Cal. Rptr. 757."
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Information Source 2:	"Pitts v. County of Kern, 17 Cal. 4th 340 (1998)"
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Information Source 3:	""Mean Justice," Edward Humes, Simon & Schuster, NY, 1999, p. 450."
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Book About Case:	""Mean Justice," Edward Humes, Simon & Schuster, NY, 1999, p. 450."
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
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Marcella Pitts

Charge:

Child Sex Abuse and Conspiracy

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment with 373 year minimum

Years Imprisoned:

6

Year Crime:

1984

Year Convicted:

1985

Year Cleared:

1991

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Kern

City of Crime:

Bakersfield

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Prosecutorial misconduct of presenting improper evidence, making improper and disparaging remarks about the defendants and defense counsel throughout the trial, and making improper remarks during closing arguments."

Innocence Proved By:

Conviction reversed by the CA Ct. of Appeals.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Lost federal civil rights lawsuit

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

29

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"People v Pitts, 223 Cal. App. 3d 606 (1990); 273 Cal. Rptr. 757."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Pitts v. County of Kern, 17 Cal. 4th 340 (1998)"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

""Mean Justice," Edward Humes, Simon & Schuster, NY, 1999, p. 450."

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

""Mean Justice," Edward Humes, Simon & Schuster, NY, 1999, p. 450."

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: