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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
2010 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Michigan |
County or Region of Crime: |
Wayne |
City of Crime: |
Flat Rock |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"James Terrell Sheperd was wrongly convicted in October 2011 of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree murder in the shooting death of 24-year-old Jesus Cabrera.in an apartment in Flat Rock, Michigan on November 9, 2010. Cabrera was at the apartment selling marijuana to Christopher Rishard Henderson, who lived there with his girlfriend and their children. A witness identified Sheperd's codefendant, Henderson, as one of two person's entering the apartment building shortly before Cabrera's body was discovered. The witness did not identify Sheperd as the second man. With no physical, forensic, or eyewitness evidence linking him to the crime, Sheperd's prosecution was based on the testimony of Flat Rock Police Lt. Jeffrey Metz conveying the impression that Sheperd and Henderson devised a plan to rob and kill Cabrera. Sheperd's alibi defense was that on the day of the killing he was working his shift at the Dearborn Truck Plant, 18 miles from Flat Rock. After his conviction by a jury, the trial judge granted Sheperd's motion to vacate his second-degree murder conviction, but denied his motions to vacate his first-degree murder conviction due to insufficient evidence,and for a new trial because his conviction was against the weight of the evidence. James Sheperd was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree felony murder. (Henderson was tried in the same courtroom as Sheperd, but they had seperate juries. Henderson was convicted of first-degree murder based on the eyewitness identification+Q6762, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.) Sheperd (and Henderson) appealed. On December 22, 2015 the Michigan Court of Appeals vacated Shepherd's conviction based on the prosecution's failure to introduce sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The appeals court affirmed Henderson's conviction and sentence. Sheperd was released from prison on April 6, 2016. On April 5, 2017 Sheperd filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that named as defendants the City of Flat Rock and officer Metz. The lawsuit alleges that Metz concealed that during his investigation he obtained cell phone records proving that at the time of Cabrera's murder Sheperd was at his work in Dearborn -- which proved the truthfulness of Sheperd's alibi." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury and concealment of exculpatory alibi evidence by investigating police officer. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 22, 2015 the Michigan Court of Appeals vacated Shepherd's conviction based on the prosecution's failure to introduce sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
27 |
Age When Released: |
32 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Man wrongfully convicted of murder files $10 million lawsuit against Flat Rock, former police officer: He spent nearly five years in prison before being freed, By Jim Kasuba, News Herald (Southgate, Mich.), April 7, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.thenewsherald.com/news/man-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-files-million-lawsuit-against-flat/article_26c3aa51-0b13-55de-86c9-2f20a802a60c.html |
Information Source 2: |
"People of the State of Michigan v. James Terrell Sheperd, No. 312795 (Mich. Ct. of Appeals, 12-22-2015) Unpublished (Vacating conviction based on insufficient evidence.)" |
Information Location 2: |
http://cases.justia.com/michigan/court-of-appeals-unpublished/2015-312210.pdf |
Information Source 3: |
"Cleared murder convict sues Flat Rock, ex-officer, By Oralandar Brand-Williams, The Detroit News, April 5, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2017/04/05/cleared-murder-convict-lawsuit/100092408/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org