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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Bank Fraud |
Sentence: |
"4 years Probation, $10,000 fine, and 1,000 hours of community service" |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
1984 |
Year Convicted: |
1995 |
Year Cleared: |
1999 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Florida - Federal Case |
County or Region of Crime: |
Palm Beach |
City of Crime: |
Boynton Beach |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Attorney Dana M. Scheer, attorney Kenneth Treadwell, and banking executive William Frame, co-defendants. Treadwell had been Scheer's immediate superior at the the West Palm Beach, Florida branch of the Philadelphia law firm of Blank, Rome, Comiskey, and McCauley, and Frame was a senior vice-president with Sunrise Savings and Loan Association in Boynton Beach, Florida. The three co-defendants were wrongly convicted on January 18, 1995. Scheer was convicted of conspiracy, two counts of misapplication of bank funds, and two counts of aiding and abetting the making of false statements on a loan application related to providing legal counsel in 1984 for the borrowers of a $500,000 loan obtained from Sunrise Savings and Loan. The jury acquitted Scheer of the same charges related to a $13.5 million loan. Treadwell and Frame were also convicted of conspiracy and other charges. Scheer, Treadwell, and Frame filed post-trial motions for a judgment of acquittal or in the alternative a new trial. After an evidentiary hearing, on September 12, 1995 U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler vacated the conspiracy convictions of Scheer, Treadwell, and Frame based on a variance in the indictment and the proof adduced at trial. However, the judge upheld Scheer and Frame's other felony convictions, while granting Treadwell a judgment of acquittal based on the prosecution's violation of Treadwell's immunity agreement. During the hearing evidence was disclosed that the key testimony against Scheer was provided by a prosecution witness who only testified after he was threatened with prison if he didn't cooperate. Frame was 50 when he died of a heart attack two weeks before he was to be sentenced on November 8, 1995, and his convictions were subsequently vacated on the grounds his convictions weren't final because he hadn't had the opportunity to appeal. In January 2006 Scheer was sentenced to four years probation, fined $10,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service while on probation. Scheer read a statement to Judge Hoeveler in which he stated he shouldn't have been convicted because he didn't know he was violating the law at the time and he didn't profit from the deal. Scheer was allowed to remain free on bond while he appealed his convictions and sentence. On February 25, 1999 the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Scheer's convictions on the grounds that his right to a fair trial was violated by the prosecution's failure to disclose prior to his trial that the key witness against him only testified after being threatened with loss of his liberty if he didn't cooperate. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to retry Dana Scheer. So all three co-defendants were ultimately cleared, albeit at different times and for different reasons." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Prosecution misconduct of eliciting key prosecution testimony against Scheer by threatening the witness. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On February 25, 1999 the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Scheer's convictions on the grounds that his right to a fair trial was violated by the prosecution's failure to disclose prior to his trial that the key witness against him only testified after being threatened with loss of his liberty if he didn't cooperate." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"USA v. Dana Scheer, 168 F. 3d 445 (11th Cir. 1999)" |
Information Location 1: |
"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8697671488562340430&q=Dana+Scheer&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 2: |
"Victim Of A Ten-Year Vendetta, By Stuart Taylor, Jr., The American Lawyer, May 1, 1996" |
Information Location 2: |
http://stuarttaylorjr.com/content/victim-ten-year-vendetta |
Information Source 3: |
"Lawyer For Defunct Sunrise S&L Sentenced, By Associated Press, AP News Archive, February 1, 1996" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1996/Lawyer-For-Defunct-Sunrise-S-L-Sentenced/id-d4cc320e45be5627814dd8d55f150590 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org