Manuel Hidalgo Rodriguez

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Charge:	Child/Minor Sex Abuse (incl. molestation)
Sentence:	23 years
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:	1994
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	2000
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Washington
County or Region of Crime:	Chelan
City of Crime:	Wenatchee
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Manual Hidalgo Rodriguez was a Wenatchee, Washington 'Sex Ring' defendant. Forty four adults were falsely arrested in Wenatchee from 1992 to 1995 on 29,730 counts of child abuse. Manuel Hidalgo was one of 28 innocent people prosecuted, 19 of whom were wrongly convicted of child abuse charges. With the support of State CPS workers, a policeman coached child witnesses to give false statements and testimony against the adults, most of who were members of a Wenatchee church. Formal charges were filed the day before his trial, and his public defender lawyer went to work for the prosecutor's office 3 week after Hidalgo's conviction. M. Hidalgo's conviction was reversed in December 1999, and he was released from custody on April 12, 2000."
Conviction Caused By:	Could not speak English. The charge he was convicted of was only formally filed the day before his trial. His public defender took job in prosecutors office three weeks later.
Innocence Proved By:	"After state and federal officials failed to act, Innocence Project Northwest, a team of volunteer lawyers and University of Washington law students, took up the appeals of the Wenatchee defendants."
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project Northwest
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	33
Age When Released:	39
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Information Source 1:	""Once wrongly accused, Wenatchee suspect now 'a free guy,' " Mike Barber (staff), Seattle Post-Intelligener, 4-12-2000"
Information Location 1:	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/wena121.shtml
Information Source 2:	"“The Power To Harm,” Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reprint of coverage and commentary on the Wenatchee false prosecutions published from Feb. 23 - March 17, 1998. (Actual Series published from Feb. 23-Feb. 27, 1998, the balance are articles irregularly published to update the story.)"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	" “Wenatchee, Washington: A Small Town Gone Crazy,” Sharma Oliver, Gauntlet, Vol. 2, No. 12, p. 26-39."
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:	""2 Wenatchee case defendants vindicated: Hidalgo conviction thrown out; Green won't be retried," Mike Barber, Seattle PI, Dec. 10, 1999."
Information Location 4:	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/wena101.shtml
Information Source 5:	""Lies, lies and more lies,' says jailed man: Migrant farm worker an easy target," Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber, Seattle P-I, Feb. 25, 1998."
Information Location 5:	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/powertoharm/rodriguez.html
Book About Case:	"“Witch Hunt: a true story of social hysteria and abused justice,” Kathryn Lyon, Avon Books, NY, 1998 "
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Manuel Hidalgo Rodriguez

Charge:

Child/Minor Sex Abuse (incl. molestation)

Sentence:

23 years

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

1994

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

2000

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Washington

County or Region of Crime:

Chelan

City of Crime:

Wenatchee

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Could not speak English. The charge he was convicted of was only formally filed the day before his trial. His public defender took job in prosecutors office three weeks later.

Innocence Proved By:

"After state and federal officials failed to act, Innocence Project Northwest, a team of volunteer lawyers and University of Washington law students, took up the appeals of the Wenatchee defendants."

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project Northwest

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

33

Age When Released:

39

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

""Once wrongly accused, Wenatchee suspect now 'a free guy,' " Mike Barber (staff), Seattle Post-Intelligener, 4-12-2000"

Information Location 1:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/wena121.shtml

Information Source 2:

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

" “Wenatchee, Washington: A Small Town Gone Crazy,” Sharma Oliver, Gauntlet, Vol. 2, No. 12, p. 26-39."

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

""2 Wenatchee case defendants vindicated: Hidalgo conviction thrown out; Green won't be retried," Mike Barber, Seattle PI, Dec. 10, 1999."

Information Location 4:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/wena101.shtml

Information Source 5:

""Lies, lies and more lies,' says jailed man: Migrant farm worker an easy target," Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber, Seattle P-I, Feb. 25, 1998."

Information Location 5:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/powertoharm/rodriguez.html

Book About Case:

"“Witch Hunt: a true story of social hysteria and abused justice,” Kathryn Lyon, Avon Books, NY, 1998 "

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: