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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Kidnapping (incld. Abduction) |
Sentence: |
Dual 30 year sentences |
Years Imprisoned: |
16.25 |
Year Crime: |
1992 |
Year Convicted: |
1993 |
Year Cleared: |
2008 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Texas |
County or Region of Crime: |
Dallas |
City of Crime: |
Dallas |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Patrick Waller was wrongly convicted in 1993 of being one of two men involved in the March 1992 kidnapping at gunpoint of a couple using a Dallas, Texas ATM machine. The couple were also robbed and the woman raped. Waller was convicted of the robbery in December 1992 and sentenced to life in prison. See the additional database entry for Patrick Waller about that conviction. Another couple drove up to the scene and were also held up at gunpoint. However a security guard arrived and the assailants fled in separate cars, Three of the four people abducted picked Waller from a photo array, and the fourth identified him out of a live lineup, Although protesting his innocence, Waller pled guilty to the kidnapping in exchange for dual 30-year prison sentences, because based on his earlier conviction he was afraid he would never be eligible for parole if convicted by a jury. Waller's requests for DNA testing of crime biological evidence was opposed in 2001 and 2005 by the Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill. When a new DA was elected, the DNA testing was performed in early 2008 and it excluded Waller as being one of the woman's assailant. The man who it identified as the source of the DNA was in a state DNA database. When confronted he confessed and identified his accomplice. The accomplice also confessed and both men said that Waller had nothing to do with the crime. Both men also testified before a grand jury that Waller was not involved. Since the statute of limitations has expired neither man can be prosecuted. Waller was released on bail on July 3, 2008, after more than 16 years in custody. He was the 19th man exonerated in Dallas County, Texas. Patrick Waller was granted lump sum compensation under Texas' wrongful conviction statute of $1,300,000 plus a monthly lifetime annuity of $6,347.43." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Based on his conviction to the robbery of the couple based on his erroneous eyewitness identification from a line-up, Waller falsely confessed to kidnapping the couple in order to get a reduced sentence." |
Innocence Proved By: |
DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trial of biological evidence that excluded him as one of the assailant. |
Defendant Aided By: |
Innocence Project NY |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
19 |
Age When Released: |
34 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Exonerated by DNA, Patrick Waller is released from prison, By Jennifer Emily (staff writer), The Dallas Morning News, July 3, 2008" |
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Information Source 2: |
"Dna test clears texas man in prison since 1993, By Jeff Carlton (AP writer), Houston Chronicle, June 26, 2008" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org