Frank Lee Smith

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Charge:	Murder and Rape
Sentence:	Death and Died in Prison
Years Imprisoned:	14.67
Year Crime:	1985
Year Convicted:	1986
Year Cleared:	2000
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Florida
County or Region of Crime:	Broward
City of Crime:
Result:	Not Judicially Exonerated - Died in Prison
Summary of Case:	"Frank Lee Smith was posthumously exonerated by DNA tests in December 2000 of the rape and murder of an 8 year old girl in Broward County, FL. Frank Lee Smith was erroneously identified by three witnesses who only had brief glances of the killer and no physical evidence linked him to the crime. Smith also falsely confessed. He died in prison in January 2000 of pancreatic cancer. Both Smith and the victim were black. As of May 2014 Smith has not been officially exonerated by a court or an executive pardon."
Conviction Caused By:	"Erroneous eyewitness testimony of three witnesses who had only brief glances of the killer, and he was pressured into falsely confessing."
Innocence Proved By:	Posthumously exonerated by DNA testing conducted after he died in prison.
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	37
Age When Released:	52
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	Death Penalty Information Center
Information Location 1:	http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html
Information Source 2:	Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern School of Law
Information Location 2:	http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/FlaSmith.htm
Information Source 3:	"Miami Herald, 3-1-01 and 5-5-01"
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Frank Lee Smith

Charge:

Murder and Rape

Sentence:

Death and Died in Prison

Years Imprisoned:

14.67

Year Crime:

1985

Year Convicted:

1986

Year Cleared:

2000

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Florida

County or Region of Crime:

Broward

City of Crime:

Result:

Not Judicially Exonerated - Died in Prison

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Erroneous eyewitness testimony of three witnesses who had only brief glances of the killer, and he was pressured into falsely confessing."

Innocence Proved By:

Posthumously exonerated by DNA testing conducted after he died in prison.

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

37

Age When Released:

52

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 1:

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

Information Source 2:

Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern School of Law

Information Location 2:

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/FlaSmith.htm

Information Source 3:

"Miami Herald, 3-1-01 and 5-5-01"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

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Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: