Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Jimmy Warren

 

Charge:

Firearm possession (including sale)

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2011

Year Convicted:

2012

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Boston

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Jimmy Warren was wrongly convicted in 2012 of illegally being in possession of a firearm in Boston, Massachusetts on December 18, 2011. Warren's prosecution was based on the search of him by police who saw him running in the general area of a burglary in Boston, and after that search the discovery of an unlicensed Walther .22 handgun in a yard close by. Although Warren denied having possessed the pistol, it was later linked to him. Warren filed a pretrial motion to suppress the discovery of the pistol as the result of a search that lacked probable cause, because the police seeing him running away from them did not serve as the basis for them to think he had committed a crime. Warren waived his right to a jury trial, and he was convicted after a bench trial in the Boston Municipal Court. Warren appealed, and his conviction was affirmed by the court of appeals. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court accepted review of Warren's conviction. On September 20, 2016 the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously reversed Warren's conviction on the basis that the police seeing him running away from them did not constitute probable cause to search Warren, and the subsequent discovery of the pistol, and therefore all evidence seized as a result of that search was inadmissible, and Warren's running away from the police could not be used against him. The Court stated in its ruling: “Lacking any information about facial features, hairstyles, skin tone, height, weight, or other physical characteristics, the victim’s description ‘contribute[d] nothing to the officers’ ability to distinguish the defendant from any other black male’ wearing dark clothes and a ‘hoodie’ in Roxbury." (Commonwealth v. Warren, No. SJC 11956) (Sept 20, 2016))"

Conviction Caused By:

"Illegal stop, seizure, and arrest by police."

Innocence Proved By:

"On September 20, 2016 the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously reversed Warren's conviction on the basis that the police seeing him running away from them did not constitute probable cause to search Warren, and the subsequent discovery of the pistol, and therefore all evidence seized as a result of that search was inadmissible."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Commonwealth v. Warren, No. SJC 11956) (September 20, 2016) (Reversing conviction based on lack of probable cause to stop Warren.)"

Information Location 1:

http://www.mass.gov/courts/docs/sjc/reporter-of-decisions/new-opinions/11956.pdf

Information Source 2:

"Mass. Supreme Court rules black men may be justified in running from cops, By Jacki Billings, Guns.com, Sept. 22, 2016"

Information Location 2:

http://www.guns.com/2016/09/22/mass-supreme-court-rules-black-men-may-be-justified-in-running-from-cops/

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

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