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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape and Robbery (including burglary) |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
7.96 |
Year Crime: |
1974 |
Year Convicted: |
1974 |
Year Cleared: |
1982 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New Jersey |
County or Region of Crime: |
Camden |
City of Crime: |
Pennsauken |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Julius C. Taylor was wrongly convicted in 1974 of being one of three black men who robbed a vending company Pennsauken, New Jersey (near Philadelphia) and that he was the lone man who raped a female employee on December 4, 1974. Minutes after the crime occurred Taylor was stopped by a state trooper for making an illegal U-turn on the Atlantic City Expressway, 20 miles from Pennsauken. When the state trooper radioed that Taylor fit the description of the attacker that had just been broadcast, the dispatcher replied, "That's impossible; you're too far away." There were five eyewitnesses, including the rape victim, who was unable to identify Taylor from a lineup after his arrest, however, during his trial she identified him as her attacker. Taylor testified at his trial that when stopped he had just bought a chess set at a store in his hometown of Elm, New Jersey and he was on his way to a friend's house to play chess when he took a wrong turn and did a U-turn, which was when he was stopped. Taylor's friend testified that he was expecting him that morning to play chess. After Taylor was convicted and his direct and post-conviction appeals were denied by New Jersey courts, he filed a federal writ of habeas corpus. On October 28, 1982 U.S District Court Judge Stanley Brotman granted Taylor a new trial, ruling that Taylor had received ineffective counsel during his first trial. Less than three weeks later Taylor was released on November 15, 1982 when the Camden County Prosecutor agreed to dismissal of Taylor's convicted crimes in exchange for a guilty plea to the unrelated crime of illegal possession of the firearm he had in his car when stopped. He was sentenced to time served and immediately released after seven years and 49 weeks of wrongful imprisonment. The 38-year-old Taylor, a carpenter at the time of his arrest, told reporters, "I feel as though I shouldn't have gone through all that I did. How would you feel about being in jail for eight years for something you didn't do? I don't feel too good." Members of the Taylor's carpenter's union - Local 1073 - supported him and raised money for his defense. They had arranged for him to immediately start working again as a carpenter upon his release." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Mistaken eyewitness identification by the victim. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Taylor was released on November 15, 1982 when the Camden County Prosecutor agreed to dismissal of Taylor's convicted crimes after his federal habeas corpus petition was granted." |
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: |
38 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"After 7 Years, Inmate Released On Plea Bargain, By Timothy Dwyer (Staff Writer), The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 16, 1982" |
Information Location 1: |
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Information Source 2: |
"Taylor v. Hilton, 563 F.Supp. 913 (USDC NJ, 10-28-1982)" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=19821476563FSupp913_11286.xml&docbase=CSLWAR1-1950-1985 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org