Victims of the State
GRA - GUY

Name Index

Frank Grace, a Black Panther leader in New Bedford, was convicted of the shooting death of Marvin Morgan, a 19-year-old drug addict. Grace maintained that police framed him because he was a political radical. Grace's conviction was overturned after new witnesses came forward and old witnesses recanted. Prosecutors declined to retry him because they no longer had any witnesses.  (CIPM) (ISI)  [11/05]

(Federal Case tried in Pittsburgh) Cordez Graham and his wife Crystal Holliday were alleged to have used counterfeit sales receipts to obtain refunds at several Bed Bath & Beyond stores. Both were convicted of violating a federal law involving transportation of stolen securities. In a post trial motion, the defendants argued that legally a security must have a value in and of itself and identify the owner. Since the allegedly counterfeit sales receipts met none of these criteria, a judge agreed that they could not have violated the law, and overturned their convictions. A co-defendant, Angela Barnes, who pleaded guilty to the non-crime, was also eligible to have her conviction overturned.  (JD)  [9/05]

In 1973 Ernest “Shujaa” Graham and co-defendant Eugene Allen, both blacks, were charged with killing Jerry Sanders, a white prison guard, while incarcerated at Duel Vocational Institute in Tracy, CA. Graham's first trial resulted in a hung jury. Graham was convicted and sentenced to death in 1976 after his second trial. The California Supreme Court overturned that conviction. Graham's third trial ended in another hung jury, and he was acquitted at his fourth trial.  (DPIC)  [12/05]

Gary Graham, later known as Shaka Sankola, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Bobby Lambert, 53, outside a Safeway supermarket in north Houston. He was convicted primarily on the testimony of one witness, Bernadine Skillern, who said she saw the killer's face for a few seconds through her car windshield, from a distance of 30 to 40 feet away. Two other witnesses, both who worked at the grocery store and said they got a good look at the assailant, said Graham was not the killer but were never interviewed by Graham's court appointed attorney, Ronald Mock, and were not called to testify at trial. Three of the jurors who voted to convict Graham signed affidavits saying they would have voted differently had all of the evidence been available. Graham was executed on June 23, 2000.  (Justice: Denied) (TJDP)  [1/07]

Michael Ray Graham, Jr. and Albert Ronnie Burrell were convicted of the robbery and murders of William Delton Frost, 65, and Callie Maude Frost, 60, at their home near Downsville. Graham and Burrell were sentenced to death. The two were arrested after Burrell's ex-wife, Janet, stated that she had seen Burrell with a rifle on the night of the murder and that he told her Graham had used it to shoot the couple. Janet also said she saw Delton Frost's wallet with his social security card in Burrell's car. However, police reports showed that Delton's wallet and social security card were found on his bed at the murder scene. Following the arrests, Olan Wayne Brantley, a prison informant, claimed that Graham had confessed to him, and after Brantley was moved to Burrell's cell, he claimed that Burrell had confessed as well. A law enforcement official acknowledged that Brantley was known as “Lying Wayne.” In early 2000, 17 days before Burrell's scheduled execution, his ex-wife recanted her statement. She said she had implicated him in an effort to gain an advantage in a child-custody dispute. She had attempted to recant before the pair's trials, but she was threatened with loss of custody if she did. Graham and Burrell were released on Dec 28, 2000 and Jan. 3, 2001.  (CWC) (JP) (Justice: Denied)  [1/06]

Chris McCrimmon, Andre Minnitt and Martin Soto-Fong were sentenced to death for the shooting murders of three people at the El Grande Market in Tucson. The victims were Fred Gee, 45, the store manager; his uncle, Zewan Huang, 75, who also worked there; and Raymond Arriola, 31, a store clerk. After being arrested for a parole violation, an informant, Keith Woods, fingered the three. At the trials of the three, police detective Joseph Godoy testified that he first learned of the three from Woods, testimony which was later proven to be perjured. It seemed likely that the names were supplied to Woods by the police. DA Kenneth Peasley was later disbarred for intentionally presenting this false evidence. Peasley had twice been selected as state prosecutor of the year. McCrimmon and Minnitt have since been exonerated, but Soto-Fong is reportedly still on death row.  (New Yorker)  [3/07]

Kenneth Granger was convicted of murder for the shooting death of Edward Harris, a North Philadelphia taproom cook. Three eyewitnesses, including an off-duty Philadelphia police officer, testified against Granger and he was sentenced in 1982 to life imprisonment. In 2008, Granger's daughter persuaded a public defender, Karl Schwartz, to take his case. As Schwartz reviewed the case documents, he was puzzled why another eyewitness, a barmaid, was never called to testify by the prosecution. Schwartz asked Common Pleas Court Judge Earl W. Trent Jr., who was presiding over Granger's appeal, to grant him access to to the homicide detectives' case file. In an unusual move, the judge approved the request.

Within this file Schwartz found that the off-duty officer had failed to identify Granger in a photo spread – an important piece of information that could have been used to discredit the officer's critical testimony. Prosecutors then turned over from their own file the photos showing that the barmaid had identified someone else in a photo array – more information that could have helped the defense. In addition, the defense learned that the off-duty officer had problems of his own. He had been suspended for 30 days for an off-duty shooting at a liquor store and later became a suspect in another shooting.

With such information likely to come out in a new trial, the District Attorney's Office offered a deal to Granger – plead guilty to third-degree murder and be released with no parole. But Granger refused to plead guilty. So, after more negotiation, prosecutors agreed that if he would plead nolo contendere or “no contest,” meaning that he was not contesting the charges but not admitting guilt, he could get out of prison. Granger accepted the offer and was released in July 2010 after 28 years of imprisonment.  (Phila. Inquirer) (Wash. A.A.)  [07/10]

David Wayne Grannis was sentenced to death for murder of Richard Sutcliffe. While hitchhiking, Grannis and a co-defendant, Daniel Ethan Webster, were given a ride by Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe offered the men a place to stay. At trial the state argued that Grannis and Webster killed Sutcliffe while robbing him and burglarizing his home. Grannis testified that Sutcliffe sexually propositioned him and became aggressive with him. Grannis ran out of the house and did not know that Sutcliffe was dead until he was arrested. Grannis believed his screams must have awakened Webster, who killed Sutcliffe after he left. A female friend of Webster testified that she overheard Webster bragging to her cousin about committing a murder.

During trial, the prosecution introduced photos depicting homosexual activity that were found in Grannis's room at the time of his arrest. The Arizona Supreme Court overturned Grannis's conviction in 1995. It ruled that the photos were “marginally relevant” and that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting them. The Court stated that the probative value of the photos was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. At retrial in 1996, the charges against Grannis were dismissed because of insufficient evidence.  (DPIC)  [10/07]

Anthony Graves was sentenced to death after an admitted mass murderer fingered him as an accomplice in order to protect his wife from prosecution. In 1992, Robert Earl Carter, a 27-year-old prison guard, was under pressure from his ex-girlfriend, Lisa Davis, to increase child support for their son Jason. He was already supporting his wife, Theresa, and their son, Ryan. Anger over increasing child support payments does not fully explain Carter's subsequent actions, but it is the only motive that has been suggested. Carter, reportedly, was a kind, gentle, and pleasant man, so presumably something within him snapped.
Read More by Clicking Here

Anthony Gray was convicted of the rape and murder of 38-year-old Linda Mae Pellicano. The crime occurred in Pellicano's Chesapeake Beach home. Police coaxed a confession out of the borderline retarded Gray by telling him that that his codefendants had confessed. Years later when a burglary suspect reported unpublicized details of the crime, DNA testing was done which exonerated Gray and the two other men who were arrested. The DNA tests produced a match with the burglary suspect.  (IP) (MAIP)  [10/05]

David A. Gray was convicted of the rape, attempted murder, and armed robbery of 58-year-old Ann Brewer. Brewer was stabbed 33 times but survived. Gray had come to her home 3 days before the crime to see a motorcycle her son was selling. There was little evidence against Gray apart from the victim's ID. Gray's first trial resulted in a hung jury. His second trial was supplemented by a jailhouse informant who claimed Gray confessed. Gray served 20 years of a 60-year sentence before DNA tests exonerated him.  (IP)  [5/05]

Paula Gray was a fifth defendant in Ford Heights Four case. She was Kenneth Adams girlfriend. After being questioned for two nights, Gray, 17, and borderline mentally retarded, agreed to testify against the Four, which she did before a Grand Jury. She soon recanted her testimony and was charged with the murders and with perjury. Through the discovery process in the Ford Heights Four civil damages lawsuit, it became apparent that Gray's testimony had been coerced.  (CWC) (IP)  [7/05]

Samuel Greason was sentenced to death for the murder of John Edwards, a 46-year-old farmer. Edwards' body was found on July 4, 1901 in an empty cistern on his property in Stouchsburg. His head had been terribly gashed with a knife. Greason, a black man, was convicted of his murder after the victim's wife, Kate Edwards, identified him as an accomplice in the murder. Greason and Mrs. Edwards were paramours. Shortly before their scheduled executions, Edwards confessed to committing the murder alone. Edwards was apparently pregnant with Greason's child at the time of the murder, as she gave birth to a mixed race daughter while in custody. Greason was cleared and released in 1906.  (Archives) (News Articles)

Louis Greco - See Deegan Four

Anthony Michael Green was convicted of raping a terminally ill nurse who was receiving treatments for liver cancer. The crime occurred at the Cleveland Clinic Center Hotel. The perpetrator had told the victim his name was Tony. Green had worked at the hotel for a short time, but was fired in March 1988 for getting into a fight with another employee. Green's clinic ID badge was among a group of badges shown the victim. The victim identified him at trial. The trial also featured faulty and falsified forensics. DNA tests exonerated Green in 2001.

Following Green's release, the Plain Dealer newspaper wrote an article series about Green's ordeal. The real perpetrator, Rodney Rhines, who had become a Christian and was living at the City Mission, happened to read the series. He had not known that anyone had been convicted for his crime. After reading the series, Rhines, feeling remorse, confessed to mission personnel that he had done the crime and wanted to turn himself in. The Rev. Brent Reynolds told him, “You won't be coming back out once you walk into that police station.” “Yes, I know,” said Rhines. Rhines had once worked for the Cleveland Clinic in the hotel kitchen. Even though the victim identified Green, Green does not resemble Rhines. Rhines's skin and eyes are darker and his face wider. Green was awarded $2.6 million in 2004 for 13 years of wrongful imprisonment.  (Plain Dealer) (IP)  [5/08]

Crosley Green was sentenced to death for the murder of Chip Flynn that occurred in an orange grove. Five private detectives who believe in his innocence have banded together and gotten four witnesses to recant. They also uncovered new physical evidence.  (CBS) (JD) (07) (08)  [3/05]

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]

Joseph Nahume Green, a black man, was convicted of the murder of Judith Miscally. She was the society editor of a local newspaper and in a dying statement she described her assailant as a skinny black man, a description that fit Green. Green had an airtight alibi, but was convicted largely because of the testimony Lonnie Thompson, a purported eyewitness. Thompson, who has a 67 IQ, initially described the killer as white, but later identified Green in a one-person police lineup. In 1996, the Florida Supreme Court overturned Green's conviction because it held that Thompson's testimony was often inconsistent and contradictory, and that he not been fit to testify. In 2000, a judge entered a not guilty verdict for Green, citing the lack of any witnesses or evidence tying Green to the murder.  (CWC) (FLCC)  [9/05]

Kevin Green, a Marine corporal, was convicted of bashing his wife, Dianna, and murdering his unborn child in the process. Dianna was also raped and suffered some brain damage. Following the assault, Dianna had no memory of it, but eventually she identified Kevin as her assailant. Kevin spent 16 years in prison but was released due to a confession by serial killer Gerald Parker, who also confessed to five other murders. Parker's confession was supported by DNA evidence. Kevin's case inspired a 2001 law increasing allowable state compensation for the wrongfully imprisoned to $100 a day. Kevin was awarded $620,000 for his 6200 days of wrongful incarceration.  (IP)  [7/05]

Nelson Green - See Stielow & Green

William S. Green was convicted of murdering a night watchman named Blount. Blount had found that a rear door to the Standard Theater at 1126 South Street had been forced open. He entered the theater and apprehended an intruder. He then took the intruder to a police call box. When Blount turned to make a call, the intruder snatched his gun and fatally shot him. The watchman had an elderly friend named Lonnie Caldwell who watched from some distance away.

Two weeks later, two witnesses, James Hargett and Alonzo Suggs, came forward who placed themselves within forty feet of the call box at the time of the shooting. They identified Green, a Navy veteran, as the killer. Caldwell could only say that Green looked something like the killer. At trial in Jan. 1947, Green's defense presented several witnesses who were in the area at the time of the shooting and who testified that Green did not resemble the killer.

In 1957, after Green had served 10 years of imprisonment, Hargett came forward and admitted he did not see Green at the scene of the murder. He said the other witness, Suggs, paid him $100 to give false testimony. Suggs was a homosexual who had once been beaten up by Green after propositioning him. The district attorney investigated Hargett's claim and satisfied himself that it was true. Green was subsequently pardoned.  (The Innocents) (48) (57)  [7/09]

Willie Earl Green was convicted of fatally shooting 25-year-old Denise “Dee Dee” Walker in a South Los Angeles crack house. The conviction was based on the testimony of a single eyewitness, Willie Finley. After Centurion Ministries accepted Green's case, Finley admitted in 2004 that he was high on crack cocaine at the time of the murder and did not know who committed the crime, but he was pressured by police into identifying Green.  (FJDB) (L.A. Times)  [9/08]

Charles Greenlee - See Groveland Three

(Federal Case)  Irving Greenwald was convicted of stealing blank money orders from a postal substation in a Buffalo, NY drugstore and then cashing them for various amounts at businesses in New York City. The perpetrator reportedly had blond hair and blue eyes as did Greenwald. At trial multiple witnesses identified Greenwald as the perpetrator. Following his conviction and imprisonment, money orders stolen from the same drugstore continued to be passed under similar circumstances, and the perpetrator, Richard Barry, was eventually caught. Aside from having blond hair and blue eyes, there was no material resemblance between Barry and Greenwald. Following Barry's conviction, U.S. President Coolidge pardoned Greenwald.  (CTI)  [6/08]

Richard Greer - See Albuquerque Four

William Gregory was convicted of raping one woman and attempting to rape a second woman. Neither of the women identified him as the rapist when they were shown his photograph, but both later insisted that he was the rapist. A police forensic “expert” testified that Gregory's hair was “similar” to the assailant's hair found in a stocking cap. Gregory served 7 years of a 70-year sentence before being DNA tests exonerated him.  (IP)  [10/05]

Larry Griffin was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Quintin Moss. Moss was killed in a drive-by shooting while allegedly dealing drugs on a St. Louis street corner. The conviction was based largely on the testimony of Robert Fitzgerald, who had been at the scene of the killing. He testified at trial that he saw three black males in the car from which the shots were fired and that he could identify Griffin as one of them. He testified that Griffin shot at the victim through the window of a car with his right hand. Griffin's lawyer, a recent law school graduate, had never tried a murder case. The lawyer did not challenge this testimony, even though Griffin was left-handed.

Griffin's fingerprints were not found on the car or weapons. All evidence against him was circumstantial. Evidence suggests that Fitzgerald was promised a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony. The jury was not provided with this information. Fitzgerald later recanted his testimony. He said the investigating officers showed him a photograph of Griffin and told him, “We know this man is involved.” Fitzgerald was then presented with five photos from which he identified Griffin. Griffin's lawyer failed to investigate an alibi witness. The prosecution was able to bring out that the alibi witness had erred about the day he and Griffin had been together, thus making it appear that the alibi had been fabricated.

The prosecution failed to reveal that there were two additional eyewitnesses who confirmed that Griffin was not involved in the murder. The first testified that he witnessed the shooting, and he did not recognize any of the three men who killed the victim. He knew Griffin and was certain that Griffin was not in the car with the shooters. The other witness, a 16-year-old member of a gang led by Griffin's brother at the time of the murder, also testified that Larry Griffin was not involved in the shooting and named the three men who were all members of the gang led by Griffin's slain brother. He was able to describe the exact sequence of events leading to Moss's murder and to testify to the killers' motive. He also was able to identify correctly the place where the car and guns had been abandoned and later found by the police.

Despite the compelling evidence of Griffin's innocence, appeals courts upheld his conviction and death sentence. Griffin was executed by lethal injection on June 21, 1995.  (EJ USA)  [1/07]

Louis Griffin was sentenced to death for the gunshot murder of Christopher Lynn Davis. Following Davis's death, two men were indicted for the murder, Anthony Embry and Falanda Miles, based on eyewitness testimony and other evidence. Embry pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment while Miles was tried and acquitted of the charge. The Davis case was then closed.

In April 1996, Griffin pleaded guilty in New York City to federal RICO law (racketeering) violations. Griffin was the “security man” for the 142nd Street Lynch Mob Crew. The Crew supplied illegal drugs to various parts of the country, including Alabama. As part of his plea Griffin entered into an allocation that he had participated in the Alabama murder of Davis. As a result of this allocation, Alabama authorities exonerated Embry of Davis's murder and initiated proceedings against Griffin.

At trial, Griffin stated that he lied in federal court. However, he was barred from presenting any evidence that after the initial police investigation, the state believed that Embry and Miles committed the murder, or that Embry entered into a valid plea agreement admitting to the murder. This evidence was excluded because it was hearsay. On appeal in 2000, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Griffin's conviction due to the excluded evidence. In 2001, Griffin was acquitted at retrial.  (Griffin v. State) (Ex parte Griffin) (Alabama's Exonerated)  [11/08]

Black men, Charles Greenlee, Walter Lee Irvin, and Samuel Shepherd, were convicted in 1949 of raping a white woman. Greenlee was sentenced to life and the other two to death. Irvin came within two days of being executed before receiving a stay. A man named Harry Moore organized a campaign in 1949 to help free the innocent men. Two years later, the Supreme Court ordered a new trial for the men. On Dec. 25, 1951, Moore's house was bombed and he and his wife were killed. Shepherd died in prison in 1951. Greenlee was released in 1960 and Irvin in 1968.  [7/05]

Ricardo Aldape Guerra, a Mexican national, was sentenced to death for the murder of James D. Harris, a Houston police officer. Harris was killed during a routine traffic stop. The gun that killed Harris was found on Roberto Carrasco some hours later, after Carrasco was killed in a shootout with police. Guerra, a 20-year-old acquaintance of Carrasco, was riding in the car with Carrasco when Harris was killed. Police theorized that Guerra shot Harris and later traded guns with Carrasco. Guerra's fingerprints were not found on the gun, but five eyewitnesses identified him as the shooter.

Beginning in 1994, evidence emerged that police and prosecutors had systematically intimidated and manipulated the eyewitnesses into identifying Guerra as Harris's killer. During a federal appeal, these witnesses testified that they had perjured themselves because they feared police and prosecutors. Guerra's conviction was overturned in Nov. 1994. The state delayed justice by appealing the ruling, but ultimately released Guerra in Apr. 1997, as they had no intimidated witnesses with which to retry him. Upon release, Guerra returned to Mexico where he was the subject of a book, a feature film and at least one popular song and music video.  (NCR)  [2/07]

Thomas G. Gunter was convicted of the murder of his son-in-law, Marlin Drew. Marlin and his wife, Pearl, lived with their three children at the home of Pearl's parents. Marlin was found dead in his bed with a bullet through his heart and a revolver nearby. Authorities concluded his death was a suicide. Following the death, Pearl sent their seven-year-old daughter, Dorothy Louise Drew, to visit relatives in Tennessee. While there Dorothy related how she had been sleeping with her “pop,” when her “granddad,” Thomas Gunter, came into the room and shot him. Pearl soon confirmed the story. Gunter's wife insisted that Pearl had shot Marlin in a fit of jealousy while Gunter was drunk in another part of the house. Gunter was soon convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Three months later, after Pearl gave birth to her fourth child, she confessed that she had killed Marlin and requested that her 63-year-old father be pardoned. Pearl said she had coached Dorothy Louise to implicate her father. She added it was always her intention to tell the truth after the birth of her baby, and that she could not bear the thought of it beginning its life in prison. Mississippi Governor Bilbo then granted Gunter a 90-day suspension of sentence as Pearl was bound over for an appearance before the Grand Jury. After the Grand Jury indicted Pearl for murder and perjury, Pearl was arraigned and pled guilty. The judge, however, used his statutory discretion and suspended Pearl's sentence.

When Gunter's 90-day suspension expired in Feb. 1930, the governor denied his application for a pardon and ordered him to return to prison. The governor stated, “Somebody ought to be in the penitentiary all the time for the murder of a sleeping man. If Judge Pegram does not believe Mrs. Drew is guilty enough to serve her term, then the man convicted of her murder will have to serve his term. Husbands ought to have some protection.” Gunter, however, refused to return to the penitentiary and as of Feb. 1931 when an account of the case was written, both he and Pearl had fled the state of Mississippi.  (CTI)  [10/09]

Willie Crutcher, James Hudson, John Murchison, and Cleo Staten, all colored men, were convicted of the murder of John Franklin McClendon, a white man. All were sentenced to life imprisonment. McClendon's body was found in a cave near the top of Brindlee Mountain, close to Guntersville, AL. The convictions were due to the testimony of another colored man, Ben Nobles, who was arrested for the crime but not indicted. After serving two years of imprisonment, Crutcher was killed by falling rock in a mine where he worked. Hudson died of tuberculosis after having served three and a half years.

In April 1926, the victim's nephew, Otis McClendon, told his mother that the victim's wife, Myrtle McClendon, had confided to him of her desire to kill her husband. Myrtle asked for Otis's aid and in return promised him 40 acres of land, a pair of mules, and a home as long as she had one. They then both took turns shooting her husband and both transported his body to the cave where it was found. In talking to his mother, Otis was distressed because Myrtle in no way kept her promise to remain loyal to him, but had went and married another man. Otis then vowed he was going to kill Myrtle, her new husband, and himself. Otis ran from his mother and attempted to carry out his vow. He fired on Myrtle and her new husband, but was fatally wounded by a shot from the husband.

Due to Otis's confession, Murchison and Staten were released on permanent parole. Staten was subsequently granted a pardon, but died a few days before it was granted. Murchison, though admittedly innocent, was denied a pardon because he had a record of bad conduct in prison. In 1931 the Alabama legislature awarded Murchison $750 for his 6 years of wrongful imprisonment.  (CTI)  [6/09]

Harold Chester Guyette was convicted of one count of murder after allegedly committing a double homicide. On Mar. 12, 1966, Savin' Sam's, a mom-and-pop truck stop between the towns of Fernley and Lovelock, was robbed. The operators, Dean Briggs and his mother, Eva Briggs, were both fatally shot. After being arrested for an outstanding traffic citation in his home state of Indiana, Guyette, 20, was questioned about the double homicide in Nevada. He admitted being in the area with his 17-year-old wife on a drive back from California. His wife's stepfather had called Nevada authorities and told them the two had been in the area. However, neither had been to the location of the murders.

On the basis of these statements, Guyette and his wife, Mary Lou, were extradited to Nevada. The authorities made Mary Lou write letters to her husband, telling him to confess so she could get out of jail. Guyette was denied legal counsel. Eventually, Guyette did confess so Mary Lou could find witnesses and help. Mary Lou did find witnesses and help, but Guyette was convicted of murdering Dean Briggs. Witnesses placed Guyette and his wife 197 miles away at the time of the murders. Guyette was released in 1972, officially on the technicality of being denied legal counsel. As of 2008, Guyette is still fighting for official exoneration.  (Archives) (Appeals)  [4/08]