Daniel Young Jr.

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Charge:	"Murder, Rape and Kidnapping"
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	12.83
Year Crime:	1990
Year Convicted:	1994
Year Cleared:	2005
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Illinois
County or Region of Crime:	Cook
City of Crime:	Chicago
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Daniel Young (aka Dan Young) was a co-defendant of Harold Hill. The two men were wrongly convicted in 1994 of the rape and murder of 39-year-old Kathy Morgan, whose body was found in an abandoned building on Chicago's South Side on October 14, 1990. The men were convicted on the basis of Hill and Young's false confessions in March 1992 implicating each other, and the false testimony by a prosecution forensic expert that he made the bite mark found on the woman's breast. Hill and Young were first implicated in the crime when a third man, Peter Williams confessed to the crime after being intensely interrogated, however the police soon learned that he had been in jail at the time of the murder. In 2004 DNA tests not available at the time of their trial of hairs found at the murder scene and cellular material found under Morgan's fingernails excluded the men as her assailant. The charges were dismissed on January 31, 2005, and Young was freed. Dan Hill was not immediately released because he had three years left on an unrelated robbery conviction. Young filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago, the Chicago PD and several officers. Fifteen months later he was killed by a hit and run driver in Chicago on April 27, 2006. After Young's death the lawsuit was refiled by his brother. On January 2008 the Chicago City Council approved a settlement of Young's lawsuit against the city for $700,000. The money was to go to Young's family. Young was pardoned on the basis of his innocence by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in July 2008, which made him eligible for about $130,000 in compensation from the State of Illinois."
Conviction Caused By:	Convicted on the basis of false confessions and questionable testimony by prosecution expert who testified Young made a bite mark on the victim's breast.
Innocence Proved By:	DNA testing excluded the two co-defendants as the woman's assailant.
Defendant Aided By:	Attorney Kathleen Zellner
Compensation Awarded:	"$700,000 (City of Chicago, January 2008)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	32
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"12 Years Behind Bars, Now Justice At Last, Steve Mills and Jeff Coen, Chicago Tribune, February 1, 2005"
Information Location 1:	"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0502010297feb01,1,5426654.story"
Information Source 2:	"DNA Tests Exonerate 2 in 1990 Killing, Chicago Sun-Times, February 1, 2005, p. A3"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"Wrongly convicted man struck by car, The Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL), April 28, 2006"
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:	"Committee approves $700,000 to settle wrongful conviction suit, By Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times, January 9, 2008"
Information Location 4:	"http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/731648,settle010808.article"
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Daniel Young Jr.

Charge:

"Murder, Rape and Kidnapping"

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

12.83

Year Crime:

1990

Year Convicted:

1994

Year Cleared:

2005

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Illinois

County or Region of Crime:

Cook

City of Crime:

Chicago

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Convicted on the basis of false confessions and questionable testimony by prosecution expert who testified Young made a bite mark on the victim's breast.

Innocence Proved By:

DNA testing excluded the two co-defendants as the woman's assailant.

Defendant Aided By:

Attorney Kathleen Zellner

Compensation Awarded:

"$700,000 (City of Chicago, January 2008)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

32

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"12 Years Behind Bars, Now Justice At Last, Steve Mills and Jeff Coen, Chicago Tribune, February 1, 2005"

Information Location 1:

"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0502010297feb01,1,5426654.story"

Information Source 2:

"DNA Tests Exonerate 2 in 1990 Killing, Chicago Sun-Times, February 1, 2005, p. A3"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Wrongly convicted man struck by car, The Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL), April 28, 2006"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

"Committee approves $700,000 to settle wrongful conviction suit, By Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times, January 9, 2008"

Information Location 4:

"http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/731648,settle010808.article"

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: