Calvin Willis

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Charge:	Child/Minor Sexual Assault
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	22
Year Crime:	1981
Year Convicted:	1982
Year Cleared:	2003
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Louisiana
County or Region of Crime:	Caddo
City of Crime:	Shreveport
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Calvin Willis was wrongly convicted of aggravated rape of a 9 year-old girl by a jury in 1981. Willis was sentenced to life in prison. Released on September 18, 2003 after DNA tests unavailable at the time of his conviction excluded him as the attacker. Calvin Willis was convicted even though the victim was so traumatized at the time of being questioned by police that she couldn't provide any sort of identification of her attacker. On January 17, 2010 the Lifetime Network premiered a movie -- The Wronged Man -- about how paralegal Janet Gregory worked on Willis' case for years until his release by the DNA evidence. The movie starred Julia Ormond as Janet Gregory."
Conviction Caused By:	"Erroneous eyewitness identification by the seven year old sister of the victim who had previously seen Willis, who was a friend of her mother, in their house."
Innocence Proved By:	DNA testing excluded him as the attacker.
Defendant Aided By:	Attorney Janet Gregory and the Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:	"$330,000 (State of Louisiana)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	21
Age When Released:	43
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	Innocence Project Database
Information Location 1:	http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=138
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Movie About Case:	The Wronged Man (2010) starring Julia Ormond as Janet Gregory and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Calvin Willis
Comments About Case:

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Calvin Willis

Charge:

Child/Minor Sexual Assault

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

22

Year Crime:

1981

Year Convicted:

1982

Year Cleared:

2003

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Louisiana

County or Region of Crime:

Caddo

City of Crime:

Shreveport

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Erroneous eyewitness identification by the seven year old sister of the victim who had previously seen Willis, who was a friend of her mother, in their house."

Innocence Proved By:

DNA testing excluded him as the attacker.

Defendant Aided By:

Attorney Janet Gregory and the Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

"$330,000 (State of Louisiana)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

21

Age When Released:

43

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

Innocence Project Database

Information Location 1:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=138

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

The Wronged Man (2010) starring Julia Ormond as Janet Gregory and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Calvin Willis

Comments About Case: