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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life |
Years Imprisoned: |
21.5 |
Year Crime: |
1967 |
Year Convicted: |
1968 |
Year Cleared: |
1989 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Florida |
County or Region of Crime: |
DeSoto |
City of Crime: |
Arcadia |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"James Joseph Richardson was wrongly convicted in 1968 of murdering his seven children in October 2007 based on the prosecutors and sheriff withholding exculpatory evidence, using perjured testimony, and ignoring the children's babysitter as a suspect. Richardson was sentenced to death, but after the U.S. Supreme Court's case in Furman v Georgia (1972), James Richardson was resentenced to life in prison. Lawyer and investigative writer Mark Lane wrote a book, "Arcadia" (1970) about Richardson's case that laid out the case for his innocence and that the babysitter was the likely killer. After Lane obtained the prosecutions files in the late 1980's, he was successful in generating publicity for the case, including a feature article in the Miami Herald, "Poisoned Justice" (1988). Miami attorney Ellis Rubin became involved in the case at the urging of the two reporters who wrote that story. The case was brought to the attention of Florida Governor Martinez who subsequently appointed a special prosecutor to investigate, He choose Dade County State's Attorney Janet Reno, who after reviewing the case agreed that Richardson had been wrongfully convicted and was likely innocent. Richardson's conviction was vacated by court order and he was released on April 25, 1989 after 21-1/2 years of wrongful imprisonment. DeSoto County paid Richardson $150,000 in a settlement of his wrongful imprisonment lawsuit. Richardson was also paid $20,000 for the movie rights to his story -- but the movie was never made. On August 25, 2008 Richardson filed a claim under Florida's wrongful conviction compensation law enacted in July 2008. The law provides for $50,000 per year, so Richardson is eligible for over $1 million. On August 24, 2009 an Administrative law judge rejected Richardson's claim, ruling that he had not proven he was innocent by "verifiable and substantial evidence of actual innocence." On June 20, 2014 Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed HB 277 into law that makes the 78-year-old Richardson eligible for $1.2 million in compensation. HB 277 provides compensation to a wrongfully incarcerated person who was convicted and sentenced before Dec. 31, 1979, and exempts that person from other state provisions for compensation because his case was reversed by a special prosecutor’s review rather than being overturned by a court." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Misconduct by prosecutors and sheriff deputies who withheld exculpatory evidence, suborned perjury, and ignored the crimes likely perpetrator." |
Innocence Proved By: |
Conviction vacated after Governor Martinez appointed special prosecutor to investigate the case. |
Defendant Aided By: |
"Attorney and investigative writer Mark Lane, publicity by the Miami Herald, and Miami attorney Ellis S. Rubin." |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$1,350,000 total. $150,000 (Desoto County) and $1,200,000 (State of Florida)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
32 |
Age When Released: |
54 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Arcadia and the Twenty Year Effort to Exonerate James Joseph Richardson, By Hans Sherrer, For Justice:Denied magazine, December 2008" |
Information Location 1: |
http://justicedenied.org/arcadia.htm |
Information Source 2: |
Death Penalty Information Center |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html |
Information Source 3: |
Actual Innocence - Exonerated Individuals whose cases involved prosecutorial misconduct |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.publicintegrity.org/pm/default.aspx?sid=sidebarsb&aid=38 |
Information Source 4: |
"Richardson seeks redress for wrongful imcarceration, Venice Gondolier Sun (Venice, FL), September 10, 2008" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/pnnews.aspx?a=newsarchive2/091108/ch3.htm&NewsID=422253&pnpg=0 |
Information Source 5: |
"No compensation for wrongly jailed man, By Anthony Cormier (staff), Herald Tribune (Sarasota, FL), August 25, 2009" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090825/ARTICLE/908251027/2055/NEWS?Title=No-compensation-for-wrongly-jailed-man# |
Book About Case: |
"Arcadia by Mark Lane (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970)" |
Book Information: |
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org