|
Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
22 |
Charge: |
Murder & Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Year Convicted: |
1980 |
Year
Cleared:
|
2001 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Florida |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary
of Case:
|
Wrongly convicted of one rape and six murders during two trials that occurred in 1980 and 1982. Jerry Frank Townsend confessed, but he was easily manipulated because he has an IQ rated at 58, and he is considered to have the mental capacity of an 8 year-old. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Townsend was exonerated by DNA test that implicated Eddie Lee Mosely, a man linked to more than a dozen rapes and murders. He was released on June 15, 2001 after 22 years of wrongful imprisonment. |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
False confession |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
DNA testing unavailable at the time of his trials.
|
Defendant
Aided By:
|
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Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
27 |
Age
When Released:
|
49 |
Information Source 1: |
Cleared convict getting $2.2M, By Michael Vasquez, Miami Herald, p. A1, May 9, 2008 |
Information
Location 1:
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Information
Source 2:
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Man settles first suit over false imprisonment, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), May 10, 2008 |
Information
Location 2:
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Information
Source 3:
|
Innocence Project database |
Information
Location 3:
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http://www.innocenceproject.org/case/display_profile.php?id=88 |
Information
Source 4:
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Information
Location 4:
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Information
Source 5:
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Information
Location 5:
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Ethnicity/Skin:
|
Black |
Book
About
Case:
|
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Book
Information:
|
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Falsely confessed |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org