Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Ernest Lee Sonnier

 

Charge:

Kidnapping (incld. Abduction)

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

23

Year Crime:

1985

Year Convicted:

1986

Year Cleared:

2017

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Texas

County or Region of Crime:

Harris

City of Crime:

Houston

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Ernest Lee Sonnier was wrongly convicted in 1986 of the aggravated kidnapping of a woman in Houston on Christmas Eve 1985. Although two men raped the woman over a 7 hour period of time, Ernest Sonnier was the only man the victim identified. Sonnier was sentenced to life in prison and a $10,000 fine. His conviction was affirmed in 1988. In 2009 DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the assailant. The testing implicated two men with felony convictions as the woman's actual attackers. Sonnier filed a writ of habeas corpus that claimed he was actually innocent based on the new exculpatory DNA evidence not available at the time of his trial, and that his conviction was based on false testimony. Sonnier was released on a personal recognizance bond on August 7, 2009, pending further investigation by the Harris County DA's Office. Sonnier had been imprisoned for 23 years. On October 4, 2017 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal granted Sonnier's petition on the basis of the post-conviction exculpatory DNA evidence."

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification by the rape victim.

Innocence Proved By:

"Sonnier was released by a Harris County judge on a personal recognizance bond on August 7, 2009, pending further investigation by the Harris County DA's Office. On October 4, 2017 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal granted Sonnier's petition on the basis of the post-conviction exculpatory DNA evidence."

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project at Cardozo School of Law

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

23

Age When Released:

46

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Ex parte Ernest Lee Sonnier, No. WR-85,161-02 (Tex. Court of Criminal Appeals 10-4-2017) (Granting habeas corpus petition.)"

Information Location 1:

http://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=e97896da-0512-4b31-b06f-38fbde15fe83&coa=coscca&DT=OPINION&MediaID=6d35f8c5-5558-4994-8d3e-6716c05a4f8f

Information Source 2:

"Inmate fighting to clear his name leaves jail, By Brian Rogers, Houston Chronicle, August 7, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6563717.html

Information Source 3:

"Attorney -- DNA clears Houston man who spent 23 years in prison, KHOU TV (Houston, TX), August 6, 2009"

Information Location 3:

http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime/stories/khou090806_mh_dna-rape-sonnier.b4a9535e.html

Information Source 4:

"Man Held for 23 Years Is Set Free by DNA Tests, By James C. McKinley Jr., The New York Times, August 8, 2009"

Information Location 4:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/us/08houston.html

Information Source 5:

"Sonnier v. State, 753 S.W.2d 464 (Tex. App.–Houston [1st Dist], 1988, pet. ref’d)"

Information Location 5:

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

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