Michael Caesar Seri

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Charge:	Public Indecency
Sentence:	6 months to 5 years
Years Imprisoned:	0.54
Year Crime:	2001
Year Convicted:	2001
Year Cleared:	2003
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Connecticut
County or Region of Crime:	Fairfield
City of Crime:	Newtown
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Michael Caesar Seri was wrongly convicted in December 2001 of masturbating in the Booth Public Library in Newtown, Connecticut. Seri's prosecution was based on his identification by the victim. Michael Seri was sentenced to 6 months to five years in prison. He was released on parole after serving 6-1/2 months in prison, but after his release he was required to register as a sex offender. Seri claimed he was innocent and was the victim of mistaken identity. After Seri was imprisoned a girl saw a man masturbating in the same public library who matched the description of the perpetrator of the crime Seri was convicted of. The man was linked to the crime Seri was convicted of when his fingerprint was matched to fingerprints lifted from a book that had been held by the perpetrator of the crime Seri was convicted of committing. Based on the new evidence Seri filed a petition for a new trial that was granted in February 2003. The Fairfield County District Attorney's motion to dismiss the charges was granted. In June 2003 Seri filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Newton that was settled for $425,000 in 2004, however, after payment of legal fees and expenses he received $200,000. Seri was awarded $170,000 in compensation by the State of Connecticut on December 22, 2015 (The state awarded $370,000, but as required by state law the $200,000 Seri had been paid from his federal civil rights lawsuit was deducted from the amount he was paid.)"
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness testimony.
Innocence Proved By:	The actual perpetrator was caught committing the same crime in the same location.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$370,000 total. $200,000 (City of Newton, 2004) and $170,000 (State of Connecticut, Dec. 2015)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	43
Age When Released:	44
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"He Paid For Police Mistake, Hartford Courant, Kim Martineau (staff), July 22, 2003, pp. A1, A4."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Newtown Sued For Wrongful Arrest, Brian Saxton (staff), The New-Times (Danbury, CT), Juy 23, 2003, pp. A1, A6."
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"State Awards Wrongfully Imprisoned Man $170,000 – 13 Years After Case Dismissed, By Alaine Griffin, Hartford Courant, December 22, 2015"
Information Location 3:	http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-wrongfully-imprisoned-20151222-story.html
Information Source 4:	"Danbury Man Awarded $170,000 For Wrongful Imprisonment Following 2001 Incident At Booth Library, By Staff, Newtown Bee, December 30, 2015"
Information Location 4:	https://newtownbee.com/danbury-man-awarded-170000-for-wrongful-imprisonment-following-2001-incident-at-booth-library/
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Michael Caesar Seri

Charge:

Public Indecency

Sentence:

6 months to 5 years

Years Imprisoned:

0.54

Year Crime:

2001

Year Convicted:

2001

Year Cleared:

2003

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Connecticut

County or Region of Crime:

Fairfield

City of Crime:

Newtown

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness testimony.

Innocence Proved By:

The actual perpetrator was caught committing the same crime in the same location.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$370,000 total. $200,000 (City of Newton, 2004) and $170,000 (State of Connecticut, Dec. 2015)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

43

Age When Released:

44

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"He Paid For Police Mistake, Hartford Courant, Kim Martineau (staff), July 22, 2003, pp. A1, A4."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Newtown Sued For Wrongful Arrest, Brian Saxton (staff), The New-Times (Danbury, CT), Juy 23, 2003, pp. A1, A6."

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"State Awards Wrongfully Imprisoned Man $170,000 – 13 Years After Case Dismissed, By Alaine Griffin, Hartford Courant, December 22, 2015"

Information Location 3:

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-wrongfully-imprisoned-20151222-story.html

Information Source 4:

"Danbury Man Awarded $170,000 For Wrongful Imprisonment Following 2001 Incident At Booth Library, By Staff, Newtown Bee, December 30, 2015"

Information Location 4:

https://newtownbee.com/danbury-man-awarded-170000-for-wrongful-imprisonment-following-2001-incident-at-booth-library/

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

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