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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Second Degree Murder and Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
25 years to Life imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
4 |
Year Crime: |
2010 |
Year Convicted: |
2012 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Broome |
City of Crime: |
Binghamton |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Veronica L. Taft was wrongly convicted on August 28, 2012 of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of her two-year-old son on December 30, 2010 in Binghamton, New York. At about 10 am 911 was called to Taft's residence, and when medical personal arrived and found that Taft's son wasn't breathing. Taft's prosecution was based on the belief that she hit and knocked her son off the couch onto the floor and forced his face into a pillow. During her trial the sole scientific evidence that was introduced indicated her son most likely suffered his injuries more than three hours after Taft left him with her boyfriend and gone to work. Her boyfriend testified he did not inflict the wounds that led to the boy's death and, the period during which he babysat Taft's four children was uneventful. After her conviction by a jury Taft's sentencing hearing was sentenced on February 26, 2013: she insisted on her innocence before the judge sentenced her to concurrent prison terms of 25 years to life in prison for her murder conviction and 25 years for her manslaughter conviction, to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision. Taft appealed. On December 1, 2016 the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department, reversed Taft's convictions and acquitted her because her conviction was against the weight of the evidence that her son's fatal injuries occurred while she was not present. On the day of the Court's ruling, Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell released a statement: “A child is dead; a State Appeals Court has overturned the convictions of the woman indicted and convicted for his murder. We fight for justice every day for our community and for victims; sadly, we do not have the legal authority to retry this case, given the decision of the Appellate Court." The Court affirmed Taft's three unrelated convictions for endangering the welfare of a child for which she was sentenced to one year in prison (three concurrent one year sentences). She was released because she had already served more than a year in prison. Her lawyer said they would pursue having those convictions also overturned by the State Court of Criminal Appeal." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 1, 2016 the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department, reversed her conviction and acquitted her because her conviction was against the weight of the evidence that her son's fatal injuries occurred while she was not present." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"People v. Taft, 2016 NY Slip Op 8123 (NY Appellate Div., 3rd Dept., 12-1- 2016) (Reversing convictions that were against the weight of the evidence.)" |
Information Location 1: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9972407636607413432&q=Veronica+Taft+&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 2: |
"Murder Conviction of Binghamton Mom Overturned in Child's 2010 Killing, By Vince Briga, TwcNews.com, December 1, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.twcnews.com/nys/binghamton/crime/2016/12/1/murder-conviction-of-binghamton-mom-in-childs-2010-killing-overturned.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Veronica Taft Guilty Of Killing Son, By Sean Holbert, WNBF News Radio 1290, August 29, 2012" |
Information Location 3: |
http://wnbf.com/veronica-taft-guilty-of-killing-son/ |
Information Source 4: |
"Taft Sentenced To Prison in Son's Death, By Bob Joseph, WNBF News Radio 1290, February 26, 2013" |
Information Location 4: |
http://wnbf.com/taft-sentenced-to-prison-in-sons-death/ |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org