Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Death |
Years Imprisoned: |
8.33 |
Year Crime: |
1982 |
Year Convicted: |
1983 |
Year Cleared: |
1991 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Indiana |
County or Region of Crime: |
Allen |
City of Crime: |
Fort Wayne |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Charles "Red" Smith was wrongly convicted on September 21, 1983 of first-degree murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Charles Smith was sentenced to death. On December 13, 1989 the Indiana Supreme Court granted Smith a new trial on the basis his trial lawyer provided ineffective assitance of counsel. Smith was acquitted by a jury on May 9, 1991 after his retrial, and he was released after 8 years and 4 months in custody, more than six years of which was spent on death row." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Ineffective assistance of trial counsel. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Smith was acquitted by a jury on May 9, 1991 after his retrial." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
29 |
Age When Released: |
37 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Smith v. State, 547 NE 2d 817 (Ind. Supreme Court, 12-13-1989)" |
Information Location 1: |
"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12913054246436367110&q=%22Charles+Smith%22&hl=en&as_sdt=4,15,121,253,254,255,262,263,264,265,266,267,316,317,318,325,326,327,328,329,330" |
Information Source 2: |
"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, HugoAdam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1996 pb ed. with new forward, 347 ( © 1992)." |
Information Location 2: |
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Information Source 3: |
Death Penalty Information Center |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org