USA - The Innocence Project

USA - The Innocence Project helped exonerate 9 people in 2023

December 4, 2023:

December 4, 2023 - The Innocence Project helped exonerate 9 people in 2023.
Together, the nine clients exonerated this year persevered through a combined time of 212 years in prison.
The Innocence Project made a list of these cases.

1. Ian Schweitzer (White) was exonerated of murder in Hawaii after 25 years. New DNA evidence identifies one unknown male perpetrator, proving Mr. Schweitzer and his co-defendants’ innocence. On Jan. 24, 2023, Judge Peter K. Kubota dismissed Albert “Ian” Schweitzer’s conviction for the 1991 rape and murder of Dana Ireland, based on new DNA testing that excluded Mr. Schweitzer and his co-defendants, and identified a single unknown male suspect. Additional newly discovered evidence presented to the court revealed that although DNA testing at Mr. Schweitzer’s original trial excluded him and his co-defendants, the State used false jailhouse informant testimony to build its case, which led to the wrongful conviction of Mr. Schweitzer, his younger brother Shawn Schweitzer, and Frank Pauline, Jr., who is now deceased. Ian walked free today after 25 years of wrongful incarceration. Ian was sentenced to life for second-degree murder, plus 20 years for kidnapping and 20 years for sexual assault to run consecutively. Mr. Pauline was sentenced to life for second-degree murder and given two concurrent life sentences for kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault. Mr. Pauline died in prison in 2015 after being attacked by a prisoner.

2. Norberto Peets (Black) was Exonerated in New York After 26 Years. “His jury never heard powerful, readily available evidence showing that he was misidentified.” He had been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for a 1996 shooting.

3. Darrill Henry (Black) was Exonerated in New Orleans, Louisiana. The case was dropped after DNA established that Mr. Henry was wrongly convicted based on erroneous eyewitness testimony. He had been arrested in 2004 arrest for the murders of an 89-year-old woman and her 67-year-old daughter in New Orleans, and sentenced to life in prison.

4. Yusef Salaam (Black) was Exonerated in New York. He had been sentenced to 5-10 years for a rape in New York City when he was a minor. Exonerated by DNA, False Confessions or Admissions, Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science.

5. Tyrone Day (Black) was exonerated in Texas, 33 years after wrongful conviction. Despite his innocence, Mr. Day pleaded guilty, fearing a 99-year sentence if he went to trial and lost. He had accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

6. Rosa Jimenez (Hispanic) was exonerated of a crime that never took place after 20 years. She was convicted of murder after a 21-month-old child she was babysitting choked on paper towels and suffered a severe brain injury due to oxygen deprivation. He passed away three months later. Murder charge dismissed after testimony from leading pediatric airway experts that affirmed the death at the center of the case was a tragic accident and not murder. She was convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison.

7. Carlton Lewis (Black) was exonerated following 31 years of wrongful conviction for a 1990 second-degree murder in Syracuse, NY. An incentivized witness, a false confession, and hair microscopy – a problematic forensic technique – contributed to Mr. Lewis’ wrongful conviction. He had been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murder in the second degree.

8. Leonard Mack (Black) was exonerated by DNA in New York after nearly five decades. Sentenced for a 1975 rape and sentenced to 7½ to 15 years in prison, seven and a half of which he spent incarcerated.

9. Perry Lott (Black) was exonerated in Oklahoma. Post-conviction DNA testing in 2014 cleared Mr. Lott of a 1988 rape conviction (wich occurred in 1987) that was based on an unreliable witness identification. After 30 years of incarceration for a 1987 rape and burglary. Post-conviction DNA testing performed in 2014 from the survivor’s rape kit proved Mr. Lott did not commit this crime. The State’s case rested entirely on the survivors’s identification of Mr. Lott, which was based on a suggestive police lineup. No physical evidence connected Mr. Lott to the crime, and he did not match the physical description of the perpetrator. He was sentenced to a term of 100 years.

https://innocenceproject.org/innocence-projects-uplifting-moments-from-2023/