TOO MANY WRONGFULLY CONVICTED - The Innocence Project

TERRY CHALMERS •1995DAVID SHEPHARD •19959.5 YEARSRONALD COTTON • 199510.5 YEARSWILLIAM O’DELL HARRIS19957 YEARSROLANDO CRUZ • 1995Terry Chalmers’s David Shephard was Based on a photo William O’Dell Harrisphoto was the only convicted of raping identification made by was convicted ofone repeated in photo and robbing a woman the victim, Ronald raping a nurse basedarrays shown to a rape in a parking lot. Cotton was convicted on the testimony of avictim. With no other Two men assaulted of rape and burglary lab technician andevidence, Chalmers the victim but only and sentenced to life false testimony of awas convicted in Shephard, who was plus 54 years. DNA police officer. When1987. Chalmers filed identified by the victim testing cleared Cotton, state lab technicianan appeal but his (in part based on his and he and the rape Fred Zain’s misconductconviction was upheld. voice), was charged survivor from the case, in other cases wasWith the help of the with the crime. He Jennifer Thompson, revealed, Harris andInnocence Project, served nine and a half speak publicly together others who werehe petitioned for DNA years in prison before to educate people convicted as a resulttesting and was DNA testing exonerated about eyewitness of Zain’s testimonyexonerated.him. He is now a misidentification and were granted specialfamily services worker wrongful convictions. appeals processes. Inin Essex County and1994, two rounds ofis a Founder of theDNA testing provedNortheast Council ofHarris’s innocence.the Wrongly Convicted.The police officer whoprovided false testimonyabout the victim’sidentification was laterconvicted of perjury.7.5 YEARS 62 % are African American;ONVICTED10.5 YEARSN E W Y O R K NEW JERSEY N. CAROLINA WEST VIRGINIA ILLINOISIn 1983, RolandoCruz, then a teenager,was charged withraping and killing alittle girl. According todetectives, Cruz hadreported “visions” ofthe murder, whichclosely resembled theactual details of thecrime. He and aco-defendant,Alejandro Hernandez,were sentenced todeath. Shortly aftertheir trial, a convictedmurderer confessed tothe crime, but he wasnever tried. Cruz andHernandez servednearly 11 years ondeath row before DNAtesting proved theirinnocence.6 | Innocence Project