Dennis Williams Innocence Case by Alex Chopra

e. Time In Prison

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Dennis spent most of his time in his cell. He was in his cell 23 hours a day. He spent a lot of time painting. He felt that painting strengthened him in a hostile environment. He also built boom boxes out of spare electronic parts like discarded circuit boards.

f. After the conviction

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Journalism students at Northwestern University started researching a 18 year old police file. It said that four other suspects could have committed the crime and two of them confessed. The two confessions were taken with DNA tests showing that the "Ford Heights Four" did not rape Carol Schmal.

A. Background

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i. Dennis Williams

ii.Convicted of the rape and murder of Lawrence Lionberg and Carol Schmal

iii. Ford Heights, Chicago

B. Defendant

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i. 21

ii. Ford heights, Chicago

iii. Graduated college and was planning to go to college for a career as an auto-mechanic

iv. Was convicted with four of his friends, Verneal Jimerson, Kenny Adams, and Willie Rainge. He was convicted because of false testimonies and prosecution misconduct. Died 6 years after release from a brain aneurysm

c. Evidence

alexchopra10 — 2013-09-23 17:42:53 UTC

i. Evidence that was presented in the original case by the state included an eyewitness testimony as well as a microscopic hair comparison of hair that was found at the scene.

ii. Physical evidence in the original case was the strand of hair that the state had used against Williams.

iii . The hair found in Williams car and the testimony which placed Williams near the crime scene could be considered circumstantial evidence because it was couldn't be proven that it directly linked Dennis Williams to the crime.

I. Was the Crime solved?

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i. The crime was eventually solved when a group of journalism students found the real perpetrators and interviewed them. During the interview, the three remaining suspects confessed to the rape and murders. The students found the suspects after tracking a tip given to the police a week after they arrested Williams.

ii. The evidence leading to the conviction of the actual perpetrators was their own confessions and DNA evidence proving that Williams, Rainge, Jimerson, and Adams were never at the crime scene.

G. The Release

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i. As the Northwestern University journalism followed up an article, indicating that four other suspects might have committed the crime. One of the suspects were found dead and two others confessed to the Protess's students. These confessions were followed up by DNA test, supporting Williams' innocence.

ii. Dennis Williams was released 1996, after spending a total of 17.5 years in prison and death row.

iii.

TEAM : REFRIDGATOASTERS

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D. Verdict/Sentence

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i. Dennis Williams was convicted in 1978 of murder and rape.

ii. Williams served 17.5 years in prison.

J. Life after Prison

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After his Dennis Williams was released from prison, he worked as a counselor in a youth program on the west side of Chicago. He was a part-time student at Governor’s State University and campaigned for criminal justice reform. He said that he never felt completely free. He never left his house without calling someone, so that he “would have an alibi”. And he always thought about his life on death row.

In March of 2003, not even 6 years after his exoneration, he died of a brain aneurysm.

H. Compensation

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i. $12 million

ii. Three years after the exoneration, , the innocent men won a $36 million settlement of their civil rights suit against the Cook County Sheriff's Police, with Williams' share totaling $12 million.

panda

2013-10-10 16:25:41 UTC