PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In his final order, Carpenter highlighted those exact discrepancies. Harris did not match the physical description of the suspect's age, height or facial hair. While the attacker was described as speaking clearly, Harris has a severe speech impediment. The perpetrator also drove the victim around in a car, yet evidence showed Harris could not drive at all. Furthermore, Harris had a severe, contagious sexually transmitted disease at the time, which the victim never contracted. "The identifications that she made of Mr. Harris were very likely the result of her exposure to post-event suggestive inferences," Franklin elaborated during her testimony. "In looking at the eyewitness evidence that does provide diagnostic information about the reliability of the identifications in its totality, the evidence points very strongly away from Mr. Harris's involvement."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: " There was no physical evidence connecting Harris to the crime. He had recently sought DNA testing on clothing originally collected by the Fairfield Police Department to finally exonerate himself, but an exhaustive search ordered by the court revealed the evidence had been lost. Harris maintained his innocence throughout the entire process. At his 1975 trial, he presented an unshaken alibi supported by numerous family members and friends who corroborated his whereabouts on the night of the crime — accounts that prosecutors were entirely unable to impeach. Ultimately, Carpenter ruled that the modern advancements in eyewitness memory research constituted newly discovered evidence. He found that if this science had been available to Harris to challenge the victim's identification at his original trial, the verdict would likely have been different."
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GIST: Ervin Harris, a Jefferson County man paroled after serving 42 years in prison, has successfully had his 1975 rape conviction overturned.
Circuit Judge David Carpenter officially set aside Harris' conviction and 99-year sentence on Friday, additionally ruling that he is no longer required to register as a sex offender. The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office did not object to the decision.
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The ruling follows a recent hearing focused on modern scientific research regarding human memory and eyewitness misidentification, science that did not exist during Harris' original trial.
During that hearing, eyewitness identification expert Nancy Franklin raised major concerns about the identification process used in the case.
The video below talks about Harris' efforts to get his conviction overturned.
"I concluded that the eyewitness identifications of Mr. Harris by the victim, as done, were highly unreliable," Franklin testified. "She described a very different person than she identified."
In his final order, Carpenter highlighted those exact discrepancies. Harris did not match the physical description of the suspect's age, height or facial hair. While the attacker was described as speaking clearly, Harris has a severe speech impediment. The perpetrator also drove the victim around in a car, yet evidence showed Harris could not drive at all. Furthermore, Harris had a severe, contagious sexually transmitted disease at the time, which the victim never contracted.
"The identifications that she made of Mr. Harris were very likely the result of her exposure to post-event suggestive inferences," Franklin elaborated during her testimony. "In looking at the eyewitness evidence that does provide diagnostic information about the reliability of the identifications in its totality, the evidence points very strongly away from Mr. Harris's involvement."
There was no physical evidence connecting Harris to the crime. He had recently sought DNA testing on clothing originally collected by the Fairfield Police Department to finally exonerate himself, but an exhaustive search ordered by the court revealed the evidence had been lost.
Harris maintained his innocence throughout the entire process. At his 1975 trial, he presented an unshaken alibi supported by numerous family members and friends who corroborated his whereabouts on the night of the crime — accounts that prosecutors were entirely unable to impeach.
Ultimately, Carpenter ruled that the modern advancements in eyewitness memory research constituted newly discovered evidence. He found that if this science had been available to Harris to challenge the victim's identification at his original trial, the verdict would likely have been different."
https://www.wvtm13.com/article/ervin-harris-conviction-overturned-jefferson-county/71640500
