Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Khurram Shahzad

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

Exonerated After Conviction But Prior to Sentencing

Years Imprisoned:

1.42

Year Crime:

2010

Year Convicted:

2010

Year Cleared:

2012

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Nassau

City of Crime:

Massapequa

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Khurram Shahzad was wrongly convicted in Septembe 2010 of being in possession of cocaine. The only evidence was a Nassau County crime lab report that cocaine was found in Shahzad's car during a search after he was stopped for a traffic violation. Shahzad denied having any drugs in his vehicle, and the jury relied on the testimony by the crime lab technician. While awaiting sentencing serious problems with procedures at the crime lab became public. In February 2011 the crime lab was permanently shut-down, and a November 2011 report by State Inspector General Ellen Biben found serious problems with the Nassau County police crime lab that included flawed testing of drug evidence. Shahzad's lawyers made a motion to set aside his conviction that was based on discredited testing procedures at the now shuttered crime lab, which the district attorney's office agreed not to oppose. On April 18, 2012 Shahzad's drug conviction was vacated. Shahzad had been jailed for about 500 days after his arrest. Shahzad was a fast-food restaurant manager at the time of his arrest, and the dismissal of his conviction was the first time a drug conviction was dismissed after a trial verdict because of the crime lab's faulty evidence testing procedures. The November 2011 State Inspector General's report found: The lab's failure to properly document drug testing was "a deficiency which limits the ability to appropriately review cases and prevents critical examination of the conclusions. "The lab prepared and sent reports to the district attorney that did not accurately document the testing methods that had been used. "Flawed reports were the product of poorly trained analysts and outdated procedures. "The drug chemistry section employed techniques that were outdated and inefficient thereby hampering the analysts' productivity.""

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous drug testing procedures at the Nassau County crime lab.

Innocence Proved By:

"Conviction set aside on April 18, 2012."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

25

Age When Released:

27

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Conviction set aside, Nassau crime lab cited, Newsday (New York), April 18, 2012"

Information Location 1:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/conviction-set-aside-nassau-crime-lab-cited-1.3669491

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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