Cathy Woods

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	35
Year Crime:	1979
Year Convicted:	1985
Year Cleared:	2015
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Nevada
County or Region of Crime:	Washoe
City of Crime:	Reno
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Cathy Woods was twice wrongly convicted in Washoe County, Nevada of the 1976 murder of 19-year-old Michelle Mitchell, a nursing student at the University of Nevada, Reno. Woods was prosecuted based on her confession in 1979 while she was interrogated without a lawyer at a psychiatric hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her conviction in 1980, when she was 32, was reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court that ordered a new trial. She was again convicted in 1985 after a retrial. Both of her convictions were based on her confession in 1979 that she recanted as false. After both of her convictions Woods was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Post-conviction DNA testing of a Marlboro cigarette smoked by the assailant at the crime scene excluded Woods, while it matched Rodney Halbower, who was imprisoned in Oregon, and suspected in several Northern California murderes in early 1976. Based on the new evidence Woods filed a habeas corpus petition for a new trial. Her petition was granted and she was released on bond in September 2014. On March 6, 2015 a Washoe County District Court judge granted a motion by the Washoe County DA to dismiss the murder charge against Cathy Woods. The 35 years that Woods was in custody is longer than any other known wrongly convicted woman in the United States. On August 22, 2016 Woods filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Reno, Nevada that named as defendants: the city of Reno, two former Reno officers, former Washoe County District Attorney Cal Dunlap, two former Shreveport officers and Doctor Douglas Matthew Burks who treated Woods at the Louisiana State University Medical Center. Woods' lawsuit alleged violations of her constitutional right to due process, malicious prosecution, and civil conspiracy. The lawsuit alleged that Dr. Burks did nothing to stop Woods' police interrogation. Woods' lawyer Elizabeth Wang told a reporter after the lawsuit was filed that "She was an extremely vulnerable person at that time and today." Wang said Woods was a poorly educated woman diagnosed with severe mental illness who was "intentionally framed" for a crime she didn't commit. Wang also said that Woods' case was "extraordinary for the extreme length of her wrongful incarceration," while it was "tragically common in other crucial respects.""
Conviction Caused By:	False confession.
Innocence Proved By:	"On March 6, 2015 a Washoe County District Court judge granted a motion by the Washoe County DA to dismiss the murder charge against Cathy Woods."
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	31
Age When Released:	66
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Attorney: Woods knows 'this is all over', By Marcella Corona (Staff writer), Reno Gazette-Journal, March 7, 2015"
Information Location 1:	http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/07/cathy-woods-exonerated-muder-mitchell-mitchell/24550207/
Information Source 2:	"Woods released in Reno murder case, enjoys Archie's burger, By Emerson Marcus (Staff writer), Reno Gazette-Journal, September 12, 2014"
Information Location 2:	http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/11/woods-released-reno-murder-case-enjoys-archies-burger/15468365/
Information Source 3:	"Woman exonerated after 35 years sues officials in 2 states, By Ken Ritter and Scott Sonner (Associated Press), WHIO.com, August 23, 2016"
Information Location 3:	http://www.whio.com/news/national/woman-exonerated-after-years-sues-officials-states/W94h8mMX7GB1s7RXayp69I/
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Cathy Woods

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

35

Year Crime:

1979

Year Convicted:

1985

Year Cleared:

2015

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Nevada

County or Region of Crime:

Washoe

City of Crime:

Reno

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confession.

Innocence Proved By:

"On March 6, 2015 a Washoe County District Court judge granted a motion by the Washoe County DA to dismiss the murder charge against Cathy Woods."

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

31

Age When Released:

66

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Attorney: Woods knows 'this is all over', By Marcella Corona (Staff writer), Reno Gazette-Journal, March 7, 2015"

Information Location 1:

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/07/cathy-woods-exonerated-muder-mitchell-mitchell/24550207/

Information Source 2:

"Woods released in Reno murder case, enjoys Archie's burger, By Emerson Marcus (Staff writer), Reno Gazette-Journal, September 12, 2014"

Information Location 2:

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/11/woods-released-reno-murder-case-enjoys-archies-burger/15468365/

Information Source 3:

"Woman exonerated after 35 years sues officials in 2 states, By Ken Ritter and Scott Sonner (Associated Press), WHIO.com, August 23, 2016"

Information Location 3:

http://www.whio.com/news/national/woman-exonerated-after-years-sues-officials-states/W94h8mMX7GB1s7RXayp69I/

Information Source 4:

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