Russell Gray spent three years in prison for a murder he did not commit before the real perpetrator admitted guilt and Gray was pardoned by the Governor of Virginia.

In July 1986, Charles Gray and another man went to the Richmond home of another man whom they had been recently quarreling with.  As the tension between the groups of men heightened, Gray’s friend fired shots at the third man’s house, hitting his stepfather in the neck.  Eight days later, the stepfather passed away due to his wounds.

Both the stepson and his mother told police that Charles Gray’s brother Russell was the shooter.  The stepson picked out Russell Gray’s mug shot in a photo book as the trigger man, and the widow, who did not see the shots fired, identified Gray as someone who was at the crime scene just before and shortly after her husband was killed.  Witness misidentification is the lead cause of wrongful convictions.  The stepson also said that the shooter was wearing shorts. 

In Gray’s one day trial, his attorney Carey Bowen attempted to prove that he was not there.  Gray showed a disfiguring scar on his leg that kept him from ever wearing shorts. A number of people in the neighborhood testified that they had never seen him wear shorts. Bowen also called a number of alibi witnesses who placed Gray at another place at the time of the shooting.  Although the jury expressed skepticism over the stepson’s testimony, the judge denied their request to review the transcript of his testimony.  Gray was eventually convicted and sentenced to 52 years.

Despite the conviction, Bowen continued his investigation, interviewing more potential witnesses.  All of his investigation led pointed to a third man, Michael Harvey, who was an alibi witness in Gray’s defense at trial.  Harvey eventually confessed to a Richmond detective that he was the shooter and that Gray was not involved.  Bowen also found a new witness who testified seeing Harvey at the scene and that he was wearing the same shorts described by the stepson.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence of his innocence, Gray’s exoneration was held up by legal red tape.  Because Harvey was a defense witness, his testimony could not be held against the prosecution.  Gray was left with no judicial options.  With the help of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, then-Governor L. Douglas Wilder issued a pardon in April 1990.

Harvey eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and served eight years in prison.

Thirty years after they were wrongfully convicted of a murder they had no involvement in, Michael Damien, Nick Sousa and Wayne Eastridge had their sentences vacated thanks to a long investigation by Centurion Ministries .

In November 1974, the three men were leaving a birthday party at a bar in Washington D.C. with other guests when an altercation started with three other men.  Minutes later, as the men headed back to their vehicles, two of the three other men returned and one of them shot a member of Damien, Sousa and Eastridge’s group.

Upon hearing gunshots, Sousa got into his car and drove away while Damien and Eastridge attempted to leave the scene on foot. Four members of the men’s group chased after the shooter, Johnnie Battle, and stabbed him to death in retaliation for shooting their friend.  All of the men fled the scene before police could arrive.

Sousa eventually saw Damien and Eastridge and picked them up, also picking up Steve Jones, who had been a member of their party.  What the three men did not know was that Jones was one of the four men to chase and stab Battle.  Sousa also did not know the area of Washington D.C. and eventually ended up back at the bar they had just hastily left.

Back at the scene of the crime, all four men were questioned by police.  Because Jones had blood on his clothes, all four men were immediately identified as suspects. The police searched Sousa’s car and uncovered a couple of old knives.

Still, police did not have enough evidence to convict the men until seven months later, when Sousa’s ex-girlfriend Dorothy Willetts told police that Both Sousa and Eastridge had confessed to committing the crime on multiple occasions. She never said anything about Damien allegedly confessing, but he was also charged and convicted for the murder.

In 1989, Centurion Ministries Investigator Kate Germond began reinvestigating the case.  For the next fifteen years Germond tracked down and interviewed a large number of people with knowledge about the night.  Germond discovered that Willetts had made up the story after a bitter breakup with Sousa.  Germond received statement’s from nearly all of the witnesses that were allegedly present during these confessions and they each confirmed that Willetts had made them up.

Steve Jones, who had also maintained his innocence all along, eventually confessed to his involvement in the crime and named the three other men who had actually chased down and killed Battle.  Using this information, Germond spoke with other people who were there that night, each of whom confirmed Jones’ statement.

Centurion turned the case over to a legal team which included lawyers from Wilmer Hale.  In 2005, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer vacated their sentences and prosecutors agreed not to retry the men. Sadly Damien, who had been released on parole in 1995, passed away after suffering a heart attack months before his name was cleared.
   

Cornell Estes was 15-years-old when he was convicted of a murder he had no involvement in and sentenced to life in 1979. Estes served a year in prison before police found the real perpetrators in the Baltimore County case.

Estes and a 13-year-old boy were found near the scene where 33-year-old Donna Turner was robbed of her purse and stabbed in the chest by two other young men. Estes and his co-defendant were interrogated for 11 hours without being read their Miranda rights and had no attorneys present before the younger boy confessed to the crimes. False confessions are one of the lead causes of wrongful convictions. The boy later alleged that his confession was a repetition of what police officers told him to say.

The two boys lived together at a group home. They were registered as leaving the home 25 minutes before the crime was committed, though it would have taken them nearly an hour to get there by foot and they had no access to cars.

Despite the questionable confession and circumstantial evidence, Estes was convicted of murder and armed robbery and sentenced to life in prison.

A year after Estes was convicted, two other young men were arrested in suspicion of committing two other similar murders. While being interrogated, police discovered that Lawrence Johnson, 18 and Dwayne Mayers, 20, had actually murdered Turner. The two confessed to the murder and Estes was released in March 1980.

Four years after being exonerated, Estes was compensated $16,500 for his wrongful conviction. Both Mayers and Johnson are still incarcerated for their multiple murders.

Phillip Thurman was granted a full pardon by then-Virginia Governor Mark Warner in 2005 after DNA evidence proved that Thurman had spent 19 years in prison for a rape, abduction and assault he did not commit.

In the early morning of December 30, 1984, a 37-year-old woman was abducted, beaten, raped and strangled by an unknown African-American man while she was waiting at a bus stop in Alexandria, VA.

Shortly after the victim told police her assailant was tall, think and wearing a green jacket, Thurman was found near the crime scene matching the description the victim gave.  The victim and another witness later identified Thurman as the assailant.  Mistaken witness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions.

Mary Jane Burton, an analyst at a Virginia state crime lab, analyzed biological evidence found on the victim’s underwear.  Under the limited forensic technology available at the time, all Burton was able to confirm was that the assailant had Type B blood type.  Though Thurman does have Type B blood, it is a type shared by 20 percent of African-American men.

Thurman was convicted and sentenced to 31 years in prison.  He served 20 years before being released on parole, at age 50, on November 17, 2004.  Throughout his prison stay, he maintained his innocence and wrote to lawyers, judges, lawmakers and organizations asking for help.  When he was released, he was forced to register in Virginia as a sex offender.

After Burton died in 1999, it was discovered that she kept samples of many of the cases she analyzed.  In 2001, 2003 and 2004, tests using her samples proved that Marvin Anderson , Julius Earl Ruffin and Arthur Whitfield were all innocent of the crimes they were convicted of.

Thanks in part to the urging of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, then Gov. Warner decided to test a random sample of the evidence left behind by Burton.  On December 14, 2005, Gov. Warner announced that of the 31 samples tested, two indicated that the wrong man was convicted of the crime: Phillip Thurman and Willie Davidson.

The testing used the same sample Burton analyzed from the victim’s underwear.  On December 14, 2005, Gov. Warner announced that not only did the testing exclude Mr. Thurman, but it also produced a cold hit from a known rapist in Virginia’s DNA database.  

On December 22, 2005, Gov. Warner issued a pardon for both Thurman and Davidson.  Thurman was eventually given an undisclosed amount in compensation for his wrongful conviction.

The results of these experimental tests proved that a number of wrongfully convicted people could prove their innocence through the DNA samples that Mary Jane Burton kept.  As a result, Gov. Warner fully authorized the Old Case Testing Project, which MAIP is helping to coordinate to guarantee that every case sample Burton maintained could be tested.

Willie Davidson spent 12 years in prison for a rape he did not commit before a DNA test proved his innocence.  Not only did his case help clear his name, but it paved the way for other wrongfully convicted people in Virginia to prove their innocence and win their freedom.

On November 27, 1980, Thanksgiving Day, a 66-year-old Norfolk woman woke up in the middle of the night to find a masked man wearing gloves, a cap and a coat sexually assaulting her. 

While being interviewed by police, the victim did not give any indication of knowing her attacker.  However, after police informants led police to Willie Davidson, the victim picked him out of a photo lineup, saying he had been at her house the day before her attack.  Days later, Davidson was brought to the jail wearing a stocking over his head, where the victim stated that he looked like her attacker.  Mistaken witness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions.

At trial, a lab analyst testified that semen was found on tissues that the perpetrator used to clean himself after the rape.  Serology testing revealed Type O blood on the tissue, the same blood type as the victim.  Because Davidson is a nonsecretor, semen and other bodily fluids cannot determine his blood type.  The analyst testified that the perpetrator could have only had Type O blood or have been a nonsecretor.  This testimony contradicted with known serological truths.  In fact, because the victim’s blood could have masked the semen of any perpetrator, no blood type could have been excluded by the tests.  This testimony was highly misleading to the jury.

Furthermore, the analyst testified that one pubic hair found on the crime scene was “consistent” with Mr. Davidson’s public hair.  Hair examination is not considered a science and is completely based on the physical observations of the analyst.

The victim also testified at trial that she had known Mr. Davidson and his family all his life.  Davidson’s family had moved away for many years and she had not seen him again until his family visited the victim’s house the day before the attack.

Despite the weak evidence against him, Davidson was convicted of rape, sodomy and robbery and convicted to 20 years in prison.  He was released on parole in 1993 after serving 12 years.  As part of his parole, Davidson was forced to register as a sex offender and spend over a decade outside of prison as a convicted rapist.

After Virginia Department of Forensic Science analyst Mary Jane Burton died in 1999, it was discovered that she kept samples of many of the cases she analyzed.  In 2001, 2003 and 2004, tests using her samples proved that Marvin Anderson , Julius Earl Ruffin and Arthur Whitfield were all innocent of the crimes they were convicted of.

Thanks in part to the urging of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, then Gov. Warner decided to test a random sample of the evidence left behind by Burton.  On December 14, 2005, Gov. Warner announced that of the 31 samples tested, two indicated that the wrong man was convicted of the crime: Phillip Thurman and Willie Davidson.

On December 22, 2005, Gov. Warner issued a pardon for both Thurman and Davidson.  Davidson was eventually given an undisclosed amount in compensation for his wrongful conviction.

The results of these experimental tests proved that a number of wrongfully convicted people could prove their innocence through the DNA samples that Mary Jane Burton kept.  As a result, Gov. Warner began the Old Case Testing Project, which MAIP is helping to coordinate to guarantee that every case sample Burton maintained could be tested.

Nearly three decades after he was convicted of brutal rape and murder that he did not commit, Donald Gates was freed December 15, 2009 by a District of Columbia Superior Court Judge after DNA evidence proved that another man committed the crime.

Mr. Gates has always maintained his innocence.  Now, thanks to the hard work of Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and others from the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, he finally has regained his freedom. 
     
Gates was convicted for the June 1981 murder of Catherine Schilling in Rock Creek Park. Prosecutors claimed that the 21-year-old Schilling was on her way home from work when Gates attempted to rob her. When she resisted, they said, he raped her and then shot her in the head.

FBI Special Agent Michael Malone told jurors that two pubic hairs found on Schilling’s body were microscopically identical to a sample taken from Gates.  A woman also testified that Gates tried to rob her in the same park less than three weeks earlier. A convicted felon also testified that Gates confessed the crime to him shortly after it occurred.

Gates has always maintained his innocence on these charges and claims to have never met the informant Gerald Mack Smith, who was paid over $1000 to provide his testimony.  Four other cases that Smith had been paid to testify in eventually were dismissed. Incentivized snitch testimony is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions.

It later surfaced that Malone had given false testimony in a series of murder cases across the country. Malone was singled out in a report by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General, and his record was the subject of a Wall Street Journal investigation. Malone later admitted to lying on the stand in a death penalty case in Florida, the defense wrote.  Lab fraud is another leading contributor of wrongful convictions.

In 2008, PDS filed a motion to have further DNA testing done on Schillings's remains. Those and subsequent tests showed that Gates didn't commit the crime and also DNA of a man who tests say cannot have been Gates.

During a review of Malone’s work, the Justice Department asked the District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to look at the Gates’ case. In 2003, a forensic scientist found that Malone’s lab report was not supported by his notes. Defense lawyers claim those findings were passed on to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but never were revealed to Gates’ counsel.
       
"This is outrageous," Judge Ugast said in regards to Malone’s faulty analysis. He ordered a review of all convictions in the District in which Malone testified. "We are trying to right a wrong," he said.

Gates, now 58, was released from prison with $75 and a bus ticket to Ohio.  Since his exoneration, Gates has moved to Knox County, TN to be with family.  He has not yet been compensated for his wrongful conviction.

Click here to watch MAIP Executive Director Shawn Armbrust discuss the case with DC's Fox 5 News.

Among its extensive coverage of the case, the Washington Post wrote this editorial of the Gates case, and also caught up with him a few weeks after his exoneration to see how he was settling to his new life.       

Thanks to the work of attorneys at the Florida Innocence Project, James Bain was exonerated Thursday after serving 35 years behind bars for a rape that he did not commit.

Not only did Bain become the 248th person exonerated thanks to DNA testing, but he also spent more time in prison than any of the other DNA exonerees.  It took Bain eight years to have his DNA tested by the state.  As soon as the results were fully analyzed, Polk County prosecutors and the judge agreed that the conviction should be vacated.
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Nearly three decades after he was convicted of brutal rape and murder that he did not commit, Donald Gates was freed Tuesday by a D.C. Superior Court Judge after DNA evidence proved that another man committed the crime.

Mr. Gates has always maintained his innocence.  Now, thanks to the hard work of Parisa Deghani-Tafti and others from the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, he finally has regained his freedom.  

Judge Fred Ugast’s ruling frees Gates, but it does not exonerate him.  Prosecutors requested additional testing to verify the results, and a separate hearing next week to make a final determination.
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Chris Conover spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit before DNA evidence led to his release. 

In the late hours of October 20, 1984, three men broke into the Baltimore home of noted drug dealer Charles "Squeaky" Jordan.  Jordan, his wife and stepdaughter were all shot execution style.  The wife, Linda Jordan, survived the attack and described her assailants as two black men and a white man. She later identified African-American and fellow drug dealer Gregory Jones, as the trigger man in the murders.  Still lacking a white suspect, police zeroed in on Conover because of his history of drug-related arrests.  When shown his picture in a photo array, Linda Jordan stated that he "resembled" the white man she had seen.  She later selected him out of a lineup.

At trial, Conover presented numerous witnesses who testified that they had seen him at a birthday party at the time of the killings. In response, the prosecution presented the testimony of an FBI agent, who stated that microscopic examination of hairs found on victim Lisa Lynn Brown's body came from Conover. 

Chris Conover was convicted on May 23, 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment. In prison, Conover tutored other inmates and was elected to the "Inmate Advisory Council." 

After ten years in prison, the New York City-based Innocence Project accepted his case. In 2001, DNA testing conclusively proved that the hairs found at the crime scene belonged to two white men, neither of whom was Conover.  Nevertheless, prosecutors continued to insist that Conover was guilty and threatened to retry him.  In 2003, Conover came to an agreement with prosecutors, whereby he was released from prison in return for an Alford plea.  By the terms of this plea, Conover maintained his innocence, but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him. Thus, despite the physical evidence indicating his innocence, Conover has not been formally exonerated.  While the deal was not ideal for Conover, he chose accepted it in order to spare for their pain for his elderly mother and alleviate the recurrent panic attacks he suffered in prison.

Upon his release in 2003, Conover lived with his mother in her Towson apartment and acquired a job as a title researcher from a childhood friend.  His girlfriend has remained faithful to him since his 1984 arrest and they have reunited since his release. In an interview after his release, he told the Baltimore Sun that he simply wants to be a "regular old person."

Unfortunately, prosecutors maintain that they did not make a mistake in charging Chris Conover with murder.  They attribute the DNA results to a lucky break and steadfastly maintain their belief in his guilt.  As such, the hairs used to exclude Conover through DNA testing, have not been run through the state's database of DNA profiles.  Furthermore, DNA found in one of the victim’s underpants has not been tested, despite the Innocence Project’s stated willingness to pay all fees associated with the testing.  As of 2009, no one else has been charged with the Jordan and Brown murders.