| Willie Nesmith | Incident Year: 1982 Jurisdiction: PA Charge: Rape Conviction: Rape Sentence: 9-25 years |
Year of Conviction: 1982 Exoneration Date: 8/26/00 Sentence Served: 18 years Real perpetrator found? Not Yet Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification Compensation? Not Yet |
In May 1982, a Dickinson College student was raped. Willie Nesmith was identified by two witnesses who placed him near the scene of the crime.
The initial trial resulted in a hung jury and Nesmith was eventually convicted at a second trial. Before he was cleared, Nesmith spent more than fifteen years in jail and he served the full minimum nine year sentence for the rape conviction. While on parole, Nesmith was charged with selling cocaine, but the judge who had sentenced Nesmith on the 1996 drug conviction vacated his sentence once DNA evidence cleared Nesmith of the 1982 rape. DNA tests were conducted on the eighteen year-old semen sample found on the victim’s underwear.
The initial trial resulted in a hung jury and Nesmith was eventually convicted at a second trial. Before he was cleared, Nesmith spent more than fifteen years in jail and he served the full minimum nine year sentence for the rape conviction. While on parole, Nesmith was charged with selling cocaine, but the judge who had sentenced Nesmith on the 1996 drug conviction vacated his sentence once DNA evidence cleared Nesmith of the 1982 rape. DNA tests were conducted on the eighteen year-old semen sample found on the victim’s underwear.
| Willie Nesmith | Incident Year: 1982 Jurisdiction: PA Charge: Rape Conviction: Rape Sentence: 9-25 years |
Year of Conviction: 1982 Exoneration Date: 8/26/00 Sentence Served: 18 years Real perpetrator found? Not Yet Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification Compensation? Not Yet |