David Lee Scott

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	50 years
Years Imprisoned:	23.33
Year Crime:	1984
Year Convicted:	1985
Year Cleared:	2008
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Indiana
County or Region of Crime:	Vigo
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"David Lee Scott was wrongly convicted in 1985 of the April 1984 robbery and murder of an 89-year-old woman based on his secretly taped false confession to the crime in Vigo County, Indiana. Sixteen-yeear-old David Scott also implicated another man, who was also charged with the murder, but the charges were dropped against that man prior to his trial. Scott was sentenced to 80 years in prison, which was reduced to 50 years after the Indiana Supreme Court overturned his robbery conviction. In January 2008 DNA testing of blood evidence that didn't match Scott was relied on to release him from prison about three months prior to his mandatory release date after 23 years of imprisonment. Scott was released on January 21, 2008. The DNA evidence implicated another man, Kevin Mark Weeks. However, Weeks was acquitted of the murder after his July 2008 trial, however he was convicted of robbery. Weeks was a friend of the woman had known her for some time, so the DNA could have innocently gotten in her house."
Conviction Caused By:	Secretly taped false confession to the crime.
Innocence Proved By:	DNA tests of blood evidence unavailable at the time of his conviction established he wasn't the murderer.
Defendant Aided By:	Sister Carol Smith and his mother Nora Brown pushed for the DNA testing of evidence.
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	15
Age When Released:	38
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"After conviction — jurors’ affidavits say Weeks ‘not guilty’, By Howard Greninger, Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, IN), August 8, 2008"
Information Location 1:	http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_221214740.html
Information Source 2:	"New arrest in 1984 vigo county murder means david scott could go free, By Brian M. Boyce, The Tribune Star (Terre Haute, IN), July 25, 2008"
Information Location 2:	http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_025160409.html
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David Lee Scott

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

50 years

Years Imprisoned:

23.33

Year Crime:

1984

Year Convicted:

1985

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Indiana

County or Region of Crime:

Vigo

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Secretly taped false confession to the crime.

Innocence Proved By:

DNA tests of blood evidence unavailable at the time of his conviction established he wasn't the murderer.

Defendant Aided By:

Sister Carol Smith and his mother Nora Brown pushed for the DNA testing of evidence.

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

15

Age When Released:

38

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"After conviction — jurors’ affidavits say Weeks ‘not guilty’, By Howard Greninger, Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, IN), August 8, 2008"

Information Location 1:

http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_221214740.html

Information Source 2:

"New arrest in 1984 vigo county murder means david scott could go free, By Brian M. Boyce, The Tribune Star (Terre Haute, IN), July 25, 2008"

Information Location 2:

http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_025160409.html

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Book Information:

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