Theodore W. White Jr.

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Charge:	Sexual Assault (includes aggravated)
Sentence:	50 years
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:	1998
Year Convicted:	1999
Year Cleared:	2005
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Missouri
County or Region of Crime:	Jackson
City of Crime:	Lee's Summit
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Theodore W. White Jr. was wrongly convicted in 1999 of molesting his adopted 12-year-old daughter. Theodore White fled the country a week after his conviction while free on bail pending his sentencing. While living in Costa Rica he was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. Ted White sold real estate to support himself, and a client turned him in after seeing him on an episode of the television program America's Most Wanted. While jailed in Costa Rica for five months awaiting extradition White learned that at the time of his investigation and trial his wife was involved in an illicit sexual relationship with the detective who investigated the charges and testified as a prosecution witness during his trial. White waived extradition in the belief the new information would lead to him getting a new trial. Based on the prosecution's failure to disclose the relationship that prosecutors were aware of, in April 2002 the Missouri Court of Appeals-Western District ordered a new trial. The prosecution decided to retry White, and in May 2004 the jury voted 11 to 1 for his acquittal. After the trial four jurors publicly spoke out that there was no evidence of White’s guilt, but one juror refused to change their guilty vote. Juror Jill Miller told reporters, ‘He is not guilty, for sure. There is not one bit of evidence the state brought us to prove his guilt.’ White was tried for a third time and acquitted in April 2005. Theodore (Ted) White then filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Lee's Summit, Detective Richard McKinley and his ex-wife, alleging false arrest, conspiracy and malicious prosecution. On August 30, 2008 an eight person jury in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri awarded White $14 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages after finding that McKinley and White' wife Tina conspired to convict White of false charges and deprive him of his right to a fair trial. In July 2010 the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgment. In August 2010 the City of Lee's Summit informed White that it wouldn't pay the judgment as it had promised in writing in exchange for him dropping the city and its police chief as defendants because paying would violate a city ordinance. On July 22, 2011 the city announced that the legal roadblock had been overcome and it had come to an agreement to pay White $15.5 million."
Conviction Caused By:	"Prosecution and police misconduct of concealing illicit sexual relationship between Ted White's wife Tina, and the lead detective investigating the allegations of child molestation."
Innocence Proved By:	"After his conviction in 1999 was overturned he was retried, and in May 2004 the jury voted 11 to 1 for his acquittal. He was tried for a third time and acquitted in April 2005."
Defendant Aided By:	Represented in civil lawsuit by Chicago based law firm of Loevy & Loevy.
Compensation Awarded:	"$15,500,000 (City of Lee's Summit, 2011)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	38
Age When Released:	44
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Righting a wrong, By Bob Buckley, The Examiner (Independence, MO), April 11, 2005"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Ted white case not settled, trial moves forward, Lee's Summit Tribune (Lee's Summit, MO), By Matt Bird-Meyer, July 27, 2008"
Information Location 2:	http://ls-trib.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=1298&TM=71026.83
Information Source 3:	"Jury awards man $16 million, By Wally Kennedy, The Joplin Globe (Aurora, MO), September 13, 2008"
Information Location 3:	http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_257193846.html
Information Source 4:	"Man wrongfully convicted won't give up fight against Lee's Summit, By Bill Draper (AP writer), Columbia Missourian, August 22, 2010"
Information Location 4:	http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/08/22/man-wrongfully-convicted-wont-give-fight-against-lees-summit/
Information Source 5:	"Lee’s Summit will pay $15.5 million to wrongly convicted Ted White, AP Story, Kansas City Star, July 22, 2011"
Information Location 5:	http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/22/3029951/lees-summit-will-pay-155-million.html
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Theodore W. White Jr.

Charge:

Sexual Assault (includes aggravated)

Sentence:

50 years

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

1998

Year Convicted:

1999

Year Cleared:

2005

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Missouri

County or Region of Crime:

Jackson

City of Crime:

Lee's Summit

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Prosecution and police misconduct of concealing illicit sexual relationship between Ted White's wife Tina, and the lead detective investigating the allegations of child molestation."

Innocence Proved By:

"After his conviction in 1999 was overturned he was retried, and in May 2004 the jury voted 11 to 1 for his acquittal. He was tried for a third time and acquitted in April 2005."

Defendant Aided By:

Represented in civil lawsuit by Chicago based law firm of Loevy & Loevy.

Compensation Awarded:

"$15,500,000 (City of Lee's Summit, 2011)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

38

Age When Released:

44

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Righting a wrong, By Bob Buckley, The Examiner (Independence, MO), April 11, 2005"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Ted white case not settled, trial moves forward, Lee's Summit Tribune (Lee's Summit, MO), By Matt Bird-Meyer, July 27, 2008"

Information Location 2:

http://ls-trib.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=1298&TM=71026.83

Information Source 3:

"Jury awards man $16 million, By Wally Kennedy, The Joplin Globe (Aurora, MO), September 13, 2008"

Information Location 3:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_257193846.html

Information Source 4:

"Man wrongfully convicted won't give up fight against Lee's Summit, By Bill Draper (AP writer), Columbia Missourian, August 22, 2010"

Information Location 4:

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/08/22/man-wrongfully-convicted-wont-give-fight-against-lees-summit/

Information Source 5:

"Lee’s Summit will pay $15.5 million to wrongly convicted Ted White, AP Story, Kansas City Star, July 22, 2011"

Information Location 5:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/22/3029951/lees-summit-will-pay-155-million.html

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