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Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
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Years
Imprisoned:
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Charge: |
Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
15 yrs |
Year Convicted: |
2000 |
Year
Cleared:
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Location
of Trial:
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Alabama |
Result:
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Not Judicially Exonerated |
Summary
of Case:
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"One of the Choctaw Three wrongly convicted of murdering the non-existent newborn baby that was never born to Victoria Banks. No proof was ever presented by the State of Alabama that the baby had ever existed, and Ms. Banks' tubes had been tied in 1995. After an exhaustive examination of Victoria Banks in July 2001, nationally renowned fertility expert Dr. Michael P. Steinkampf, Director of the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham determined Victoria Banks tubal ligation made it physically impossible for her to have had a baby. Based on the actual innocence of the Choctaw Three, the Alabama Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of Victoria Banks' former husband, Medell Banks, as "a manifest injustice." Charged with first-degree murder and facing a possible death sentence, Victoria Banks agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Her sister and co-defendant Dianne Tucker also pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Because of national publicity about the case Diane Tucker was resentenced to one year in prison plus one day of probation, and she was released from prison on July 17, 2002. Because she was serving five years for another crime, Victoria Banks did not seek her immediate resentencing. As of June 2008 Victoria Banks and Dianne Tucker remain convicted of participatinging in the death of a child that never existed." |
Conviction
Caused By:
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Innocence
Proved By:
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Defendant
Aided By:
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Found? |
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Age
When Imprisoned:
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Age
When Released:
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Information Source 1: |
Medell Banks Jrs.’ Conviction for Killing A Non-Existent Child Is Thrown Out As A “Manifest Injustice,” By Hans Sherrer, for Justice Denied Magazine, Sept. 26, 2002 |
Information
Location 1:
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http://forejustice.org/wc/choctaw_three_92602.htm |
Information
Source 2:
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The Bizarre Case of The Banks Baby Murder, Inclusion Daily Express (compilation of articles about the case)http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/laws/banks.htm |
Information
Location 2:
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Source 3:
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Location 3:
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Source 4:
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Location 4:
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Information
Source 5:
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Information
Location 5:
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Ethnicity/Skin:
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Black |
Book
About
Case:
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Book
Information:
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org