TOO MANY WRONGFULLY CONVICTED - The Innocence Project

THOMAS WEBB • 1996 KEVIN GREEN • 1996 VERNEAL JIMERSON•1996 KENNETH ADAMS • 1996 WILLIE RAINGE • 199613 YEARS 15.5 YEARS 10.5 YEARS 17.5 YEARS 17.5 YEARSOKLAHOMA CALIFORNIA ILLINOIS ILLINOISILLINOIS200The victim of a 1982rape was unable toidentify her assailantfrom an initial photolineup. Thomas Webbwas one of only twomen who were includedin both the first andsecond photo lineups,and the one that mostclosely resembled herdescription. Webb wasconvicted and servedover 13 years of a60-year sentencebefore DNA testing ledto his exoneration.Kevin Green wasfound guilty of theattempted murder ofhis wife and the deathof their unborn child.His wife, who sufferedsevere brain damageand amnesia as aresult of the attack,testified against him.Over a decade later,the biological evidencein the case was runthrough a DNA databaseand matched to aserial killer known asthe “Bedroom Basher”who confessed to theattack and fiveother murders.Verneal Jimerson wasconvicted in 1985 fora 1978 Chicago rapeand murder that came tobe known as the “FordHeights Four” case.Paula Gray, who claimedto be an eyewitness,implicated Jimersonand three other men.Jimerson had servedyears on death row whena group of journalismstudents at NorthwesternUniversity, led byProfessor David Protess,uncovered evidencethat led to three othersuspects. DNA testingultimately exoneratedJimerson and histhree co-defendants.TOO MANY WRONGFULLY CONVICTEDKenneth Adams wasconvicted of rape andmurder as one of the“Ford Heights Four.”Adams was implicatedbased on the falseconfession of PaulaGray. He was convicted,sentenced to 75 years,and exonerated byDNA testing in 1996.Willie Rainge wasconvicted as one of the“Ford Heights Four.” Heand his co-defendantslived in the Ford Heightsarea and wereimplicated by the falseconfession of PaulaGray. Rainge wassentenced to life inprison, but was released18 years later whenDNA testing vindicatedall four defendants.60% of them had spent at leastone third of their lives8 | Innocence Project