|
Location |
Defendant(s) |
Date of Alleged Crime |
| Washington, DC |
Ziang Sung Wan |
Jan 29, 1919 |
|
Ziang Sung
Wan, a Chinese NYU student, was
convicted of the murder of Ben Sen Wu, an undersecretary of the Chinese
Educational Mission. Wu was murdered along with two other members of
the Mission, Dr. Theodore T. Wong and C. H. Hsie. Wan was sentenced to death.
In 1926, Wan's conviction was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court because the
government failed to show that his confession to the crime was voluntary and
the testimony of its own witnesses indicated the contrary. Jurors in
two later trials refused to reconvict Wan and the indictment against him was
dropped. (Google)
(MOJIPCC) (Wan
v. U.S.) (NY Times)
[7/05] |
| Washington, DC |
Charles Bernstein |
Apr 21, 1932 |
|
See Minnesota
- Hennepin County - Charles Bernstein |
| Washington, DC |
DC Three |
Nov 1, 1974 |
|
Michael Damien, Joseph Nick
Sousa, and Joseph Wayne Eastridge were convicted of the stabbing murder of
Johnnie Battle. The crime occurred outside the Godfather Supper Club
at 4934 Wisconsin Ave. NW on the night of Nov. 1, 1974. The three defendants had attended a birthday celebration for the
president of the Pagan Motorcycle Club (PMC). It was Sousa and Eastridge's
first PMC event. Following the event, a group of bikers got into a brief
altercation with three black males. Two of the blacks returned, and one of
them, Johnnie Battle, opened fire on the bikers, seriously wounding one. In
response, several of the bikers chased down Battle and stabbed him to
death. The three defendants came to the attention of police because they
were unfamiliar with the area and had inadvertently circled the block.
Police, arriving at the scene, stopped their car at a time when the other
bikers had dispersed.
The convictions
were based upon the testimony of Sousa's ex-girlfriend, Dorothy Willetts.
Centurion Ministries tracked down witnesses and found the three were not
involved. Damien and Sousa were paroled in 1995 and Eastridge was paroled
in 2005. In a 2005 hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer
exonerated the three. She declared, “The Court finds that this is the rare
case in which petitioners can prove their actual innocence of the crime
charged as well as violations of their constitutional rights at trial.” (CM) [2/07] |
| Washington, DC |
Bradford Brown |
Nov 2, 1974 |
|
Bradford Brown was convicted of the shooting murder of Rodney Frazier.
The crime happened at 1601 W. Street. SE A witness, Margaret Holton,
saw the killer and would later testify that it was Brown. "I am sure
of this guy's face," said Holton. "I will never forget that face."
Holton lived with Frazier's father and other witnesses from the Frazier
neighborhood corroborated her identification. Later investigation by
Washington Police Detective Robert Kanjian determined that another man,
Richard Harris, had committed the crime. Brown was released and
cleared of the conviction in 1979. (Victoria
(TX) Advocate 12-26-79) [11/08] |
| Washington, DC |
Edward Green |
July 3, 1987 |
|
Edward
Green was
convicted of rape after being identified by a rape victim. Green also had a
blood type that was consistent with the victim's assailant. DNA tests
exonerated Green in 1990. (IP)
(CBJ)
[9/06] |
| Washington, DC |
Anthony Bragdon |
Convicted 1992 |
|
Anthony E.
Bragdon was
convicted of assault with intent to rape. Bragdon was released on parole in
the summer of 2002 after serving 10 years in prison. His conviction was
overturned in March 2003 because FBI forensic technician, Michael Malone,
had falsely testified that carpet fibers he found on the alleged victim's
clothing were traceable to Bragdon's apartment. (FJDB)
[7/05] |
| Washington, DC |
Joseph Heard |
1999 |
|
Joseph
Heard who is
deaf, mute, and mentally impaired, was jailed in 1999 on a trespassing
charge from a year earlier even though a judge had previously freed him.
Prison officials then lost track of his records and he was not freed until
670 days later. In July 2005, he was awarded $1.1 million for his wrongful
imprisonment. His settlement could grow to $1.55 million as he has a case
against the prison's medical care contractor who allegedly administered
psychotropic drugs to him without his consent. [9/05] |
|