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Friday marks one year of freedom for Larry Fuller
Posted: January 7, 2008 4:30 pm
This Friday is the first anniversary of Larry Fuller’s exoneration in Texas. He was wrongfully convicted of rape in 1981 and sentenced to 50 years behind bars. He would spend 25 years, including five on parole, fighting to clear his name. Fuller was finally exonerated on January 11, 2007 after DNA testing proved his innocence. He had spent nearly 20 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
Eyewitness misidentification and faulty forensics contributed to Fuller’s wrongful conviction. Read more about these factors and other common causes of wrongful convictions here.
Other exoneration anniversaries this week:
Sunday: Mark Diaz Bravo, California (Served 3 years, Exonerated 1/6/94)
Thursday: Gregory Wallis, Texas (Served 17 years, Exonerated 1/10/07)
Tags: Mark Diaz Bravo, Larry Fuller, Gregory Wallis
Virginia Man Celebrates Almost 20 Years Since Exoneration
Posted: January 9, 2009 4:00 pm
After supposedly confessing to a crime he did not commit and serving four years in prison, David Vasquez was exonerated 19 years ago when DNA testing proved he could not have been responsible for other similar murders.
Officially exonerated in 1989, Vasquez previously pled guilty to the murder of a woman in Arlington County, Virginia, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Vasquez made “dream statements” about the crime, which officers turned into a confession even though he was considered to be borderline mentally impaired. Prosecutors depended heavily on forensic evidence found on the victim that supposedly matched Vasquez, and told Vasquez they had two eyewitnesses that placed him at the scene of the crime.
It was only after multiple DNA tests that police linked the murder for which Vasquez was convicted to another string of crimes. The tests eventually concluded that there was no match between Vasquez and the evidence found at the scene of the crime, at which time the prosecution secured a pardon for Vasquez and pursued a case against the actual perpetrator.
Other exoneree anniversaries this week:
Sunday: Larry Holdren West Virginia (Served 15 Years, Exonerated, 2000)
Tuesday: Mark Diaz Bravo California (Served 3 Years, Exonerated, 1994)
Tags: California, Virginia, West Virginia, Mark Diaz Bravo, Larry Holdren, David Vasquez