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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole |
Years Imprisoned: |
41.67 |
Year Crime: |
1975 |
Year Convicted: |
1976 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Michigan |
County or Region of Crime: |
Wayne |
City of Crime: |
Detroit |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Ledura Watkins was wrongly convicted on March 16, 1976 of first-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Yvette Ingram during a robbery at her home in Detroit, Michigan on September 6, 1975. Watkins was arrested on October 22, 1975 and charged with first-degree murder based on the police statement by Travis Herndon -- who had been arrested for an unrelated robbery -- that Watkins committed the robbery and murder. Watkins prosecution was based on testimony of Herndon, and he was tied to the crime scene by lab technician's testimony that a single hair recovered form the crime scene more likely than not matched Watkins' hair. There was no other physical, forensic, eyewitness or confession evidence linking him to the crime. After his conviction by the jury Watkins was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In 1980 and 1981 Herndon recanted his testimony, testifying during an unsuccessful post-conviction appeal by Watkins that his trial testimony was false and Watkins wasn't involved in the robbery and Ingram's murder. Decades later the FBI acknowledged that hair comparison was unreliable to match a person to a crime scene. Watkins filed a petition for a new trial based on the FBI's repudication of the reliability of hair analysis, Herndon's recantation, and police and laboratory reports prosecutors hadn't disclosed to Watkins' trial lawyer. The Wayne County District Attorney's Office acknowledged that Watkins' conviction was unreliable under the new FBI standard regarding hair comparison, and did not oppose his petition. On June 15, 2017 the motion by the Wayne County District Attorney to dismiss the charges against Watkins was granted, and he was released from custody." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Unreliable hair comparison testimony by a crime lab technician. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On June 15, 2017 the motion by the Wayne County District Attorney to dismiss the charges against Watkins was granted, and he was released from custody." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Innocence Project at the Western Michigan University-Cooley Law School |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
19 |
Age When Released: |
61 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Innocent man spends 41 years in prison in Michigan after prosecutors had connected single hair to murder, By David Boroff (Staff), New York Daily News, June 15, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/single-hair-leads-wrongful-conviction-41-years-prison-article-1.3250568 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org