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Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
3.43 |
Charge: |
Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
15 yrs |
Year Convicted: |
2001 |
Year
Cleared:
|
2003 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Alabama |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary
of Case:
|
"One of the Choctaw Three wrongly convicted of manslaughter for 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. However, charged with first-degree murder and facing the death penalty if convicted, all three defendants pled guilty to manslaughter and were each sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. 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 new evidence that no crime occurred, the Alabama Court of Appeals described Medell Banks conviction as "a manifest injustice" and allowed him to withdraw his guilty plea. Medell is Victoria Banks' former husband. The prosecutor refused to outright drop the murder charge against Medell Banks, so to end the case he pled guilty to a misdemeanor and was released on January 10, 2003 after 41 months of wrongful imprisonment. As of July 2008 Victoria Banks and Dianne Tucker's convictions had not been reversed. Medell Banks was released from prison on January 10, 2003 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge in exchange for the prosecutor dropping the capital murder charge." |
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:
|
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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Information
Source 3:
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Location 3:
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Information
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