Wrongly Convicted Database Record

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Paris Carriger


Years Imprisoned:

20

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death

Year Convicted:

1978

Year Cleared:

1997

Location of Trial:

Arizona

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Came within hours on Dec. 6, 1995 of being executed for a murder he didn't commit. The real killer confessed in 1987, but Carriger had exhausted his state appeals, and AZ state courts refused to grant him a new trial. Publicity, over a 1,000 letters to appeals court judges about his impending execution for a murder he didn't commit, and a recent Supreme Ct. decision influenced the 9th Cir. to issue a stay just hours before his scheduled execution on Dec. 6, 1995. A 3-judge appeals court panel ruled in 1996 that "serious doubts" about Carriger's guilt were insufficient to reverse his conviction, but the 9th Cir. en banc ruled on Dec. 17, 1997 that no reasonable juror that could convict Carriger in the absence of any evidence he committed the crime, and reversed his conviction."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Confession by the actual killer in 1987.

Defendant Aided By:

"Boston Globe columnist encouraged his readers to write judges on the 9th Cir. to stay Carrigers scheduled execution in 1995, which was stayed with only hours to spare."

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Found?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Information Source 1:

""Your letters made a difference: Paris Carriger is free," James Carroll, The Boston Globe, Feb. 2, 1999."

Information Location 1:

http://www.truthinjustice.org/carriger.htm

Information Source 2:

"Carriger v. Stewart, No. 9599025v2, Dec. 17, 1997"

Information Location 2:

http://www.truthinjustice.org/carrigercase.htm

Information Source 3:

692 P.2d 991

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

645 P.2d 816

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Ethnicity/Skin:

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Book Information:

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org