Richard Lynn Winfrey Sr

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	75 years
Years Imprisoned:	3
Year Crime:	2004
Year Convicted:	2007
Year Cleared:	2010
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Texas
County or Region of Crime:	San Jacinto
City of Crime:	Coldspring
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Richard Lynn Winfrey Sr. was the father of his co-defendant Megan Winfrey, aka Megan Winfrey Hammond. Megan was wrongly convicted in 2008 of capital murder and conspriacy to commit capital murder in the death of Murray Wayne Burr in August 2004 in his home in Coldspring, Texas. Richard Winfrey Sr. was only convicted of capital murder, and acquitted of conspiracy. Megan was sentenced to life in prison and her father Richard Winfrey was sentenced to 75 years in prison. A third codefendant, Megan's brother, Richard Winfrey Jr., was acquitted of both charges. The jury convicted Megan and Winfrey Sr. even though DNA testing of crime scene evidence was negative for the presence of their DNA, and there was no physical, forensic, eyewitness, or confession evidence linking them to the crime. Their prosecution was based on a scent dog picking them out of a lineup in 2007, three years after the murder. The dogs sniffed clothing worn by Burr at the time of his murder, and then picked the codefendants out of lineups. The convictions of both Winfrey Sr. and Megan were affirmed on direct appeal by the court of appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals accepted discretionary review of both Winfrey Sr.'s and Megan's convictions. Richard Winfrey's conviction was vacated by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on September 22, 2010 based on insufficient evidence and his acquittal was ordered. The court ruled that dog sniffing evidence isn't reliable and "...it is insufficient to establish a person's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." Because his conviction was overturned for insufficient evidence, his acquittal of the charged barred his retrial. He was released and his indictment was dismissed. On February 27, 2013 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Megan Winfrey's conviction on the basis of insufficient evidence of her guilt and ordered her acquittal."
Conviction Caused By:	Dog scent evidence that by itself was not reliable enough to base his conviction on.
Innocence Proved By:	"On Septembe 22, 2010 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the evidence was too unreliable to base a conviction on, and because his conviction was overturned for insufficient evidence, Winfrey Sr was released and couldn't be retried."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	54
Age When Released:	57
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Winfrey v. State, 323 SW 3d 875 (TX Ct of Criminal Appeals, 9-22-2010) (Reversing conviction based on insufficient evidence of guilt and ordering acquittal.)"
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Information Source 2:	"Texas: Bloodhounds’ Evidence Ruled Insufficient, AP Story, New York Times, September 22, 2010"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/us/23brfs-BLOODHOUNDSE_BRF.html
Information Source 3:	"Texas court reverses conviction in dog scent case, By Jeff Carlton (AP writer), Houston Chronicle, September 22, 2010"
Information Location 3:	http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7212695.html
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Richard Lynn Winfrey Sr

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

75 years

Years Imprisoned:

3

Year Crime:

2004

Year Convicted:

2007

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Texas

County or Region of Crime:

San Jacinto

City of Crime:

Coldspring

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Dog scent evidence that by itself was not reliable enough to base his conviction on.

Innocence Proved By:

"On Septembe 22, 2010 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the evidence was too unreliable to base a conviction on, and because his conviction was overturned for insufficient evidence, Winfrey Sr was released and couldn't be retried."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

54

Age When Released:

57

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Winfrey v. State, 323 SW 3d 875 (TX Ct of Criminal Appeals, 9-22-2010) (Reversing conviction based on insufficient evidence of guilt and ordering acquittal.)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Texas: Bloodhounds’ Evidence Ruled Insufficient, AP Story, New York Times, September 22, 2010"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/us/23brfs-BLOODHOUNDSE_BRF.html

Information Source 3:

"Texas court reverses conviction in dog scent case, By Jeff Carlton (AP writer), Houston Chronicle, September 22, 2010"

Information Location 3:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7212695.html

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

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Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: