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Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
25 |
Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
25 yrs - LI |
Year Convicted: |
1973 |
Year
Cleared:
|
1998 |
Location
of Trial:
|
New York |
Result:
|
Pardoned |
Summary
of Case:
|
Codefendant of John Duval. Falseley confessed to killing 52-yo white man after being handcuffed to a chair and beaten and kicked by police for 12 hours. No physical evidence linked her to the crime, and her car tires were different than the killer's tire tracks. 12 white man jury convicted her. One of 2 witnesses said police put a gun to his head and said they would kill him if he didn't testify against her. Detective in her case convicted in 1980 of faking evidence in another case. Betty Tyson was awarded $1.25 million in compensation. |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
False confession, fabricated eyewitness testimony, police perjury, prosecutorial concealment of exonerating witness statement. |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
Prosecutorial misconduct & Brady violation. 'Rochester Democrat & Chronicle' (NY) reporter Gary Craig became interested in Tyson's case and he found a jail counselor who reported her 1973 beating to his superiors the day after it occurred. A law firm took her case pro bono and they found a hidden police witness statement from the 2nd witness that he never saw Tyson with the victim - the opposite of what the police forced him to testify to at her trial. Both teenage witnesses were held as 'material witnesses' in jail for 7 months until her trial and threatened with being charged with murder if they didn't perjure themselves.
|
Defendant
Aided By:
|
Local newspaper reporter Gary Craig |
Compensation Awarded: |
$1.25 million |
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
24 |
Age
When Released:
|
49 |
Information Source 1: |
ABC News (website) 2-07-99 |
Information
Location 1:
|
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/tyson_20/20_990207.html |
Information
Source 2:
|
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle won the fourth annual Freedom of Information award for an investigation that culminated in the overturning of the conviction of Betty Tyson who had spent 25 years in prison after a wrongful murder charge and conviction. |
Information
Location 2:
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http://www.gannett.com/go/newswatch/99/june/nw0611-4.htm |
Information
Source 3:
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Information
Location 3:
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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