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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
24.16 |
Year Crime: |
1988 |
Year Convicted: |
1989 |
Year Cleared: |
2012 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Texas |
County or Region of Crime: |
Tarrant |
City of Crime: |
Forth Worth |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"David Lee Wiggins was wrongly convicted in 1989 of the June 21, 1988 rape of a 14-year-old girl at her home in Forth Worth, Texas. David Wiggins was arrested for an unrelated car theft and on June 25, 1988 and after looking at a photo lineup she identified that Wiggins "looked familiar." David Wiggins' was charged and his conviction was based on the eyewitness testimony of the victim because his fingerprints didn't match two that were believed to have been made by the girl's assailant. He was sentenced to life in prison. Wiggins was released from prison on August 24, 2012 after he was granted a new trial based on DNA testing unavailable at the time of his conviction that excluded him as the girl's assailant." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous eyewitness testimony by the 14-year-old victim. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Wiggins was released from prison on August 24, 2012 after he was granted a new trial based on DNA testing unavailable at the time of his conviction that excluded him as the girl's assailant." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Innocence Project NY |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$1,933,333.33 lump sum payment plus $10,490.32 monthly annuity (State of Texas, 1-29-2013)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
24 |
Age When Released: |
48 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"DNA evidence frees David Lee Wiggins from Texas prison 23 years after wrongful conviction, By Brian Browdie (staff), New York Daily News, August 26, 2012" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dna-evidence-frees-david-lee-wiggins-texas-prison-23-years-wrongful-conviction-article-1.1144854 |
Information Source 2: |
"Fort Worth man falsely convicted of rape is set free, By Deanna Boyd (staff), Forth Worth Star-Telegram, August 24, 2012" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/08/23/4202588/man-falsely-convicted-of-rape.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org