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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Trafficking |
Sentence: |
"25 years & $50,000 fine" |
Years Imprisoned: |
6.75 |
Year Crime: |
2008 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
South Carolina |
County or Region of Crime: |
Horry |
City of Crime: |
Conway |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Alex Lorenzo Robinson was wrongly convicted on November 9, 2011 of one count of trafficking in cocaine in an amount between 100 and 200 grams in Horry County, South Carolina. Robinson's prosecution was based on the execution of a warrant on September 25, 2008 that was based on information from a confidential female informant who alleged she had purchased drugs from Robinson's residence -- which was a trailer home -- and during the search of that residence 375.88 grams of cocaine was found, including a bag containing 111 grams on top of a pile of men's clothing, although none of the clothing was Robinson's. Also found in the trailer was some junk mail addressed to Robinson -- but no current mail personally addressed to him. Alex Robinson wasn't present during the search. Alex Robinson was arrested almost a year later, in August 2009, and charged with trafficking cocaine. Robinson filed a motion to suppress the drug evidence resulting from the search of the trailer: He alleged the affidavit supporting the warrant gave the issuing judge no information as to the confidential informant's reliability, which was imperitive because he asserted he had not lived at that residence or been to it for some time, and there was no connection between him and the seized drugs. The trial judge denied the motion to suppress. After his conviction by a jury Robinson was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. Robinson appealed. On April 23, 2014 the South Carolina Court of Appeals reversed Robinson's conviction on the basis the trial judge erred in not suppressing the evidence from the search, because the search-warrant affidavit did not include any information to establish the reliability of the informant. The State appealed, and review of the case was accepted. On March 30, 2016 the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court's ruling that the judge erred in denying Robinson's pretrial motion to suppress the fruits of the search because the search warrant affidavit was defective, but ruled it was fatally defective for a different reason. The Court ruled: "We hold that the good faith exception is not available, where, as here, the warrant issued is based on a search-warrant affidavit of the officer which contained representations known to be false. ... CONCLUSION: However, because the information in the search-warrant affidavit concerning the informant/purported purchaser's reliability was intentionally false, ... the credibility of the entire affidavit is compromised." (State v. Robinson, 785 SE 2d 355 (SC Supreme Court 2016)). The charges were dismissed, and Robinson was released from prison in March 2016 after six years in prison. On September 15, 2017 Horry County Police Department Sargeant Detective Kent Donald was fired for being the person who lied in the search warrant affidavit. Kent was hired by the Horry County PD on August 31, 1998 and became a detective three years later. He eventually was promoted to the rank of sergeant. More than a year after the Supreme Court's ruling in Robinson's case cited Horry's misrepresentations of the truth in the search warrant affidavit, a police department disciplinary report determined his action violated departmental policy. On October 20, 2016 Robinson filed a federal civil rights lawsuit (42 USC 1983) that named Kent Donald and the Horry County Police Department as defendants. The lawsuit claimed that Robinson's civil and constitutional rights were violated when Kent lied in the affidavit. In response to being informed of a tentative settlement, on September 21, 2017 U.S. District Court Judge R Bryan Harwell issued an: "ORDER DISMISSING CASE without costs and without prejudice to the right of either party, upon good cause shown within sixty (60) days, to reinstate the action if settlement is not consummated. ...(Entered: 09/21/2017)."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On March 30, 3016 the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court's ruling that the judge erred in denying Robinson's pretrial motion to suppress the fruits of the search because the search warrant affidavit was defective, but ruled it was fatally defective for a different reason. The Court ruled: "We hold that the good faith exception is not available, where, as here, the warrant issued is based on a search-warrant affidavit of the officer which contained representations known to be false. ... CONCLUSION: However, because the information in the search-warrant affidavit concerning the informant/purported purchaser's reliability was intentionally false, ... the credibility of the entire affidavit is compromised." (State v. Robinson, 785 SE 2d 355 (SC Supreme Court 2016))" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"Yes. Undisclosed (Horry County, 9-21-2017)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
27 |
Age When Released: |
34 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Lies led to wrongful conviction, SC court says. 19-year veteran cop loses his badge, By Emily Weaver, thesunnews.com, September 19, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/crime/article174219241.html |
Information Source 2: |
"State v. Robinson, 785 SE 2d 355, 415 S.C. 600 (SC Supreme Court, 3-30-2016) (Affirming appeals courts reversal based on the trial judge's erroneous denial of the defendant's motion to suppress, because the search warrant affidavit knowingly contained false information.)" |
Information Location 2: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13704691998476811854&q=alex+robinson&hl=en&as_sdt=4,41" |
Information Source 3: |
"State v. Robinson, 758 SE 2d 725, 408 S.C. 268 (SC Court of Appeals 2014) (Reversing conviction because the judge erred in denying motion to suppress because the search warrant affidavit was defective due to the unreliability of the informant's information.)" |
Information Location 3: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2862075072880562434&q=alex+robinson&hl=en&as_sdt=4,41" |
Information Source 4: |
"Robinson v. Donald, et al., No. 4:16-cv-03444-RBH (USDC SC (Florence)) (Docket last viewed 9-21-2017)" |
Information Location 4: |
https://ecf.scd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/DktRpt.pl?905007824159733-L_1_0-1 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org