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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
15 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
4 |
Year Crime: |
2011 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Westchester |
City of Crime: |
Yonkers |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Jamar Smythe was wrongly convicted in 2013 of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in Yonkers, New York. Smythe was arrested after a traffic stop in 2011. Yonkers detectives Christian Koch and Dennis Molina said they found cocaine and Ecstasy in his car. Smythe's conviction was based on the testimony of detectives Koch and Molina. Based on new evidence of Koch's dishonesty, Smythe filed a motion for a new trial, On April 21, 2015 Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli overturned Smythe's conviction based on the new evidence Koch testified falsely during Smythe's trial. Smythe was ordered immediately released from prison on bond while the Westchester County DA's Office determined if it would retry Smythe. On April 23, 2015, two days after Smythe's conviction was overturned, Koch, and another officer, Neil Vera, pled guilty to perjury for falsifying information on a March 21, 2014, search warrant for a raid of a Yonkers apartment in which the tenant, Dario Tena, fell out a window to his death. On May 5, 2015 the DA's Office filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Smythe based on insufficient evidence to prosecute him. The charges were dismissed and Smythe was released on May 12, 2015 after 4 years in custody from the time of his arrest in 2011. As of early May 2015 the charges had been dismissed against 20 other defendants in cases involving Koch and Vera." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by the police officers who testified against Smythe. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On April 21, 2015 Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli overturned Smythe's conviction based on the new evidence Koch testified falsely during Smythe's trial. On May 5, 2015 the DA's Office filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Smythe based on insufficient evidence to prosecute him. The motion was granted and Smythe was released from custody on May 12, 2015." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
30 |
Age When Released: |
34 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Peekskill Man Freed After Conviction Overturned, By Alesha Hanson, Cortlandt Daily Voice, May 12, 2015" |
Information Location 1: |
http://cortlandt.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/peekskill-man-freed-after-conviction-overturned |
Information Source 2: |
"Peekskill man freed after spending 4 years in prison, May 12, 2015, Channel 12 (Westchester, NY), May 12, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://westchester.news12.com/news/peekskill-man-freed-after-spending-4-years-in-prison-1.10426245 |
Information Source 3: |
"DA: Drop charges in tainted Yonkers drug case, By Jonathan Bandler, The Journal News, May 8, 2015" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2015/05/08/jamar-smythe-conviction-overturned/26984185/ |
Information Source 4: |
"Peekskill Man's Drug Conviction Vacated as Arresting Officer Pleads Guilty to Perjury, By Lanning Taliaferro (Patch Staff), Peekskill-Cortlandt Patch, April 24, 2015" |
Information Location 4: |
http://patch.com/new-york/peekskill/peekskill-mans-drug-conviction-vacated-arresting-officer-pleads-guilty-perjury |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org