Jerry Frank Townsend (1982 convictions)

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	19
Year Crime:	1970
Year Convicted:	1982
Year Cleared:	2001
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Florida
County or Region of Crime:	Broward
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Jerry Frank Townsend was wrongly convicted by pleading guilty in 1982 to four murders committed in Broward County, Florida during the 1970s. Jerry Townsend's convictions were based on his confessions to the crimes, and he was sentenced to four terms of life in prison without parole. Jerry Townsend confessed to those murders while imprisoned for his 1980 jury convictions of a 1979 rape and two 1973 murders committed in Miami. Townsend's jury convictions were also based on his confessions to the crimes. In 1998 the mother of one of the Broward County victims, a 13-year-old girl, convinced a Ft Lauderdale detective to review Townsend's case file. The detective became convinced of Townsend's innocence and in 2000 DNA testing of evidence in two of the cases excluded Townsend, and implicated Eddie Lee Mosely, a man dubbed by the media as "Rape Man" because he was linked to more than a dozen rapes and murders. Mosely was incarcerated at the time in a mental facility. The Broward County District Attorney filed a motion to vacate all four of Townsend's murder convictions, and on June 8, 2001 they were dismissed. Based on a review of Townsend's cases, the Dade County DA conceeded he had also been wrongly convicted of the three crimes committed in Miami. Those three convictions were dismissed on June 15, 2001, and Townsend was immediately released after 22 years of wrongful imprisonment. It was believed by experts that the police had such ease in getting Townsend's false confessions to the seven crimes because with an IQ between 50 and 60, and considered to have the mental capacity of an 8 year-old, Townsend was eager to please his interrogators by telling them what they let him know they wanted to hear. After Townsend's release his guardian hired a lawyer that filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Miami, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, and several police officers. Among the lawsuit’s claims were malicious prosecution, and that Townsend’s rights were violated by his coerced confessions, the altering of interview tapes, and the withholding of exculpatory evidence. In May 2008 the City of Miami agreed to settle its portion of the suit for $2.2 million. (See entry: Jerry Frank Townsend (1980 convictions)"
Conviction Caused By:	False confessions to four separate murders committed at different times.
Innocence Proved By:	"DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trials, and prosecutors conceeding that his confessions were unreliable and there was insufficient reliable evidence to support the convictions."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	30
Age When Released:	49
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Cleared convict getting $2.2M, By Michael Vasquez, Miami Herald, p. A1, May 9, 2008"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Man settles first suit over false imprisonment, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), May 10, 2008"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	Innocence Project database
Information Location 3:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=88
Information Source 4:
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Jerry Frank Townsend (1982 convictions)

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

19

Year Crime:

1970

Year Convicted:

1982

Year Cleared:

2001

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Florida

County or Region of Crime:

Broward

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confessions to four separate murders committed at different times.

Innocence Proved By:

"DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trials, and prosecutors conceeding that his confessions were unreliable and there was insufficient reliable evidence to support the convictions."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

30

Age When Released:

49

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Cleared convict getting $2.2M, By Michael Vasquez, Miami Herald, p. A1, May 9, 2008"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Man settles first suit over false imprisonment, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), May 10, 2008"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

Innocence Project database

Information Location 3:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=88

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: