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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Assault (Including Battery) |
Sentence: |
7 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
2010 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Louisiana |
County or Region of Crime: |
Orleans |
City of Crime: |
New Orleans |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Political Reasons |
Summary of Case: |
"Julio C. Ruano was convicted on October 31, 2011 of burglary, second-degree battery, and aggravated battery in New Orleans Louisiana. Ruano's prosecution was based on the testimony of the victim and two eyewitnesses that he was the person who assaulted a man whose vehicle had a flat tire on Interstate 610 on April 8, 2010. Ruano waived his right to a jury trial, and he was convicted following a bench trial. Julio Ruano was sentenced to seven years in prison. Ruano's conviction was affirmed by the Louisiana Court of Appeals on July 31, 2013. Ruano completed his sentence in October 2016, and he was immediately taken into custody by federal immigration authorities. Ruano was a citizen of Guatemala and his felony conviction mandated his deportation to his native country. While Ruano was awaiting his deportation hearing he filed a petition for a new trial. On March 28, 2017 Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Karen Herman reversed Julion Ruano's conviction and ordered a new trial. Judge Herman didn't want Ruano, who had been in the U.S. since 1988, deported so she relied on new bite mark evidence -- which has been discredited nationally as junk science -- that his bite doesn't match bites on the victim, and that another man looking similar to Ruano drove a green Jeep Cherokee like the one identified by witnesses to the altercation. The three eyewitnesses did not recant their identification of Ruano as the assailant. Citing the fact that Judge Herman would likely acquit Ruano if he was retried, the Orleans Parish DA's Office filed a motion to dismiss the charge which was granted on June 12, 2017." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On March 28, 2017 Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Karen Herman reversed Julion Ruano's conviction and ordered a new trial. Ruano, a citizen of Guatemala had completed his seven year sentence for battery and burglary charges, and was in federal custody awaiting his deportation to his native Guatemala. Judge Herman didn't want Ruano, who had been in the U.S. since 1988, deported so she relied on bite mark evidence -- which has been discredited nationally as junk science -- that his bite doesn't match bites on the victim, and that another man looking similar to Ruano drove a green Jeep Cherokee like the one identified by witnesses to the altercation. The three eyewitnesses did not recant their identification of Ruano as the assailant." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
42 |
Age When Released: |
49 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Hispanic |
Information Source 1: |
"Judge overturns conviction that would have meant imminent deportation for Kenner man, By John Simerman, The New Orleans Advocate, March 28, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/courts/article_49cb7944-13fe-11e7-8dc6-9fe2d1aa4f30.html |
Information Source 2: |
"State of Louisiana v. Julio C. Ruano, No. 2012-KA-1517 (Louisiana 4th Cir., Ct. of Appeals, 7-31-2013)" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.la4th.org/opinion/2012/337872.pdf |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org