Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Jeremy Sheets

 

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

1992

Year Convicted:

1997

Year Cleared:

2001

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Nebraska

County or Region of Crime:

Douglas

City of Crime:

Omaha

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Jeremy Sheets was wrongly convicted in 1997 of one count of first-degree murder and one count of using a knife to commit a felony in the murder of 17-year-old Kenyatta Bush in September 1992 in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1996 Adam Barnett made an audio taped confession to the murder, and he claimed Jeremy Sheets was his accomplice. In exchange for the taped statement, Barnett received a plea bargain in which he avoided a charge of first degree murder. Barnett later recanted his confession as false, but he hanged himself in November 1996 prior to Sheets' trial. The key evidence against Sheets was Barnett's tape recorded accusation. The trial judge denied a motion by Sheets to bar the tape recording as evidence because Sheets couldn't cross examine Barnett. The jury relied on Barnett's confession to convict Sheets, and he was sentenced to death. In September 2000 the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned Sheets' conviction on the basis the recording should have been excluded as evidence because Sheets couldn't cross-examine Barnett. The prosecution appealed to the federal courts because it involved Sheets' constitutional rights. In May 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the case. With no credible evidence to pursue a retrial, the prosecution dropped the charges and Sheets was released after his indictment was dismissed. Sheets was on death row for four years before his conviction was overturned, and spent another year in prison before he was released in June 2001. Sheets filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that was dismissed by the district court judge, and in November 2004 the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Cir. affirmed the lawsuit's dismissal."

Conviction Caused By:

Tape recorded confession by Sheets' co-defendant who hanged himself so Sheets couldn't cross-examine him about confession that implicated Sheets was his accomplice.

Innocence Proved By:

"The Nebraska Supreme Court overturned Sheets' conviction on the basis the recording should have been excluded as evidence because Sheets couldn't cross-examine Barnett. In May 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the prosecution's appeal. With no evidence to pursue a retrial, the prosecution dropped the charges and Sheets was released after his indictment was dismissed."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

22

Age When Released:

27

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"State of Nebraska v. Jeremy C. Sheets, No.?S-97-1069 (NE Sup Ct., September 15, 2000)"

Information Location 1:

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ne-supreme-court/1030497.html

Information Source 2:

"Death Row Inmate to Be Set Free, Reuters, May 15, 2001"

Information Location 2:

http://www.crimelynx.com/sheets.html

Information Source 3:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 3:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html

Information Source 4:

"Sheets v. Butera, No.?03-3650 (8th Cir. 11-09-2004)"

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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

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