wrongful conviction

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He Said He Was Innocent for 40 Years. Google Search Proved It

Stephen Simmons and two friends were arrested for stealing mailbags in 1975

(Newser) - Facebook may have been one criminal's undoing—Google was another's saving grace. The Guardian has the story of Stephen Simmons, a 62-year-old British businessman whose frustration over a 1976 conviction for a crime he maintained he did not commit had never dissipated. He and two pals were arrested...

Rumor Helped Lock Her Up for Murder. Now, an Exoneration

Judge clears Kirstin Lobato of homeless man's 2001 murder

(Newser) - Kirstin Lobato will be happier than most to leave 2017 behind. Twice convicted of the brutal murder of a homeless man in Las Vegas, the 35-year-old is expected to start a new chapter when she becomes a free woman for the first time since 2001. A judge granted a request...

He Wrongfully Spent 45 Years in Prison in 'Weak at Best' Case

Now 65-year-old Wilbert Jones is free after his rape conviction was overturned

(Newser) - A 65-year-old Louisiana man arrested at 19 and sentenced to life without parole walked out of prison Wednesday, saying "God is so good" after his rape conviction was overturned. Authorities withheld evidence that could have exonerated Wilbert Jones decades ago, and their case against him was "weak at...

Couple Wrongfully Imprisoned for Satanic Rituals Gets Paid

The Kellers will receive $3.4M after spending 21 years in prison

(Newser) - Dan and Fran Keller will receive $3.4 million from the state of Texas after being wrongly convicted of sexually abusing children during satanic rituals at their daycare and spending more than 21 years in prison, the Austin American-Statesman reports. According to CBS News , the Kellers were convicted in 1992...

Their Crimes Were Unspeakable. They Were Also Bogus

Dan and Fran Keller exonerated of daycare sex abuse

(Newser) - They were labeled "satanic" daycare owners who murdered babies, held orgies involving children, took kids to Mexico to be raped by military officials, and forced others to drink blood. They each spent 21 years in prison based on those lies, reports the Intercept . But after 25 years, their names...

Podcast's Hot Mic Helps Reverse Murder Conviction

Kaj Linna is free after 13 years in prison in Sweden

(Newser) - The Serial podcast seems to have helped Adnan Syed get a new trial . But a podcast inspired by Serial might have gone one step further. As one person involved puts it to the BBC , "We actually helped free an innocent man." Kaj Linna had served 11 years of...

They Didn't Kill Her. So Why Were They Convinced They Did?

Found innocent years ago, the Beatrice Six remain unsure

(Newser) - Years after being exonerated for the rape and murder of a 68-year-old woman in Nebraska, Debra Shelden catches herself starting to describe the crime scene. “I don’t remember what I did at the crime ... because I wasn’t there, apparently.” The Beatrice Six are a unique case...

There Was a Reason She Couldn't Recall Being Molested

Inside a case of wrongful conviction

(Newser) - "Why don't I feel like I've been molested?" It's not a question a child should ever ask of herself, but it was one Katie Spencer found herself contemplating during her middle school years. Her father, Ray, was serving two life sentences for molesting her; her brother,...

A Sister Cracks a Murder Case, a Shocking Discovery Follows
A Sister Cracks a Murder Case,
a Shocking Discovery Follows
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 23, 2017 7:11 AM CDT

A Sister Cracks a Murder Case, a Shocking Discovery Follows

Kalimah Truesdale's memory of the police report seemed off for a reason

(Newser) - Kalimah Truesdale isn't a lawyer or a member of the NYPD. In fact, when she got the call informing her that her brother was being charged with murder, she was at her job at Home Depot. And yet she was "the one who cracked" the 2009 case, Robert...

Witness Recants 27 Years After Teen Jailed for Murder

Maine man serving 70-year sentence released on bail

(Newser) - A man who served 27 years in prison for the 1989 murder of a childhood girlfriend was released on $25,000 bail Thursday after the key witness in the case recanted. Anthony Sanborn, 44, had been convicted of killing 16-year-old Jessica Briggs and sentenced to 70 years in prison. At...

Man's Murder Conviction Tossed After 32 Years in Prison

Andrew Wilson plans to fly to St. Louis immediately to visit his elderly mother

(Newser) - After 32 years behind bars, Andrew Wilson had his murder conviction thrown out Wednesday by a Los Angeles County judge. His first plan as a newly free man? Fly to St. Louis to visit his 96-year-old mother, who never doubted his innocence. Wilson, now 62, was convicted in 1986 of...

Okla. to Pay Back Man Wrongly Imprisoned for 13 Years

After 2 decades, state agrees to compensate Thomas Webb III $175,000

(Newser) - How much are 13 years of your life worth? Per the state of Oklahoma, $175,000 should cover it for Thomas Webb III, who spent that amount of time behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Per NBC News , Webb's lawyers say that after 20 years of...

'Significant Settlement' for Innocent Men Jailed 32 Years

Cleared of arson in 2015, they'll each get $15.5M

(Newser) - After serving 32 years behind bars for arson and murders they didn't commit , Amaury Villalobos and William Vasquez are finally getting what one official calls "closure." The two men wrongly convicted following a 1980 fire that killed a mother and her five children in a Brooklyn townhouse...

Dad in Australia's 'Dingo Took My Baby' Case Dies

Michael Chamberlain, then-wife wrongly convicted in daughter's death

(Newser) - It's a phrase synonymous with "the dog ate my homework." But for years, Michael Chamberlain tried to convince the world that it was true, that in the reported words of his former wife, "the dingo took my baby." He died Monday at age 72 of...

He Served 31 Years Before Being Cleared, Then Got $75

Lawrence McKinney is asking the state of Tennessee for $1M

(Newser) - Lawrence McKinney spent 31 years and nine months in prison before DNA evidence cleared him and set him free in 2009. Now, McKinney is seeking the $1 million he is entitled to under Tennessee law for all of those lost years. "I don’t have no life, all my...

He Was Executed in 1995. China Now Says He Was Innocent

Nie Shubin was made a suspect 'without a shred of evidence,' court finds

(Newser) - In August 1994, a Chinese man was named a suspect in the rape and murder of Kang Juhua, whose body was found in the northern Hebei province. He was allegedly beaten into a confession, subjected to a trial his parents couldn't attend, and executed by gunshot without their knowledge...

Texas: Women Convicted of Raping Girls Were Innocent

The 'San Antonio 4' are exonerated

(Newser) - "Excited" and "happy" is how the San Antonio Four are feeling after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals officially exonerated them of child sexual abuse on Wednesday after a 20-year fight. Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera, and Anna Vasquez were declared innocent after being wrongfully convicted of...

Paid $833K for 22 Years in Jail, Innocent Man Wants More

DNA evidence cleared Clark McMillan of rape and robbery in 2002

(Newser) - He was wrongly convicted of rape and robbery and served 22 years in prison before DNA evidence freed him in 2002. Now Clark McMillan, 58, says the $832,000 the state of Tennessee paid him is not enough to right the wrong, the Tennessean reports. McMillan, the first man in...

He Denied Guilt 65 Times. Then the Teen Just Gave Up
He Denied Guilt 65 Times. Then the Teen Just Gave Up
in case you missed it
Aug 6, 2016 4:00 PM CDT

He Denied Guilt 65 Times. Then the Teen Just Gave Up

Lorenzo Montoya was freed from prison after 13 years

(Newser) - Two years ago, Lorenzo Montoya left prison after 13 years when his conviction in the murder of a 29-year-old woman in Denver was dismissed. He is now suing the city and the cops who built the case against him when he was a young teenager, and the case is revisited...

Man Who Did 10 Years for Murder Gets Cleared of Crime

Paul Gatling was 'pressured to plead guilty'

(Newser) - A Virginia man who spent a decade in prison after pleading guilty to a New York City slaying over 50 years ago was cleared of the crime Monday, the AP reports. At the request of a prosecutor, a judge vacated the conviction of 81-year-old Paul Gatling for the 1963 shooting...

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