James Tillman

The Crime

Around 11 p.m. on  Jan. 21, 1988, a 26-year-old white woman had just left work in Hartford, Connecticut. She moved her car from her company’s garage to a parking lot on Columbus Boulevard, closer to the bar she was headed to with her coworkers. Around 12:45 a.m., she returned to the car with her supervisor. Her supervisor watched her start her car and turn on the car lights before leaving. 

While backing out of the parking space, the woman noticed that she did not have her seat belt on and that the driver’s side door was not locked. As she stopped to remedy this situation, a Black man opened the driver’s side door and attempted to enter the car. When she asked what he was doing, the man punched her in the face, then reached in and turned off the ignition. 

There was a struggle, during which the man managed to push the woman over to the passenger side of the car. When she screamed and tried to exit the car on the passenger side, he reached over, locked the door, and hit her several times.

The man started the car, but could not keep it from stalling because he was unfamiliar with the standard transmission. Finally, after 15 to 20 minutes, he successfully drove out of the parking lot and, a few minutes later, parked in a smaller parking lot. He took the victim’s purse and jewelry, then sexually assaulted her. After rifling through her briefcase, he drove the car out of the lot. He then stopped the car and ran off with her purse.

The woman called the police and was taken to a hospital where a rape kit was taken. She required seven stitches to close a cut near her left eye.

The Investigation

The police subsequently brought the victim to the station to view mugshots of possible suspects. She selected a photograph of 26-year-old James Calvin Tillman, who lived in a homeless shelter near the parking lot where the abduction occurred. Mr. Tillman also worked at a car wash in the area.

Because the photograph Mr. Tillman was taken quite some time ago, Mr. Tillman was brought in to update his photograph. The victim then viewed a photographic lineup and identified Mr. Tillman as her attacker. 

Mr. Tillman was arrested on Jan. 27, 1988. He was charged with first-degree assault, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and third-degree larceny.

The Trial

Mr. Tillman went to trial in Hartford County Superior Court in September 1989. 

Six jurors were selected, none of whom were Black, and only one was from Hartford. As the court prepared to select two alternates, Mr. Tillman’s trial lawyer, Christopher Cosgrove, requested that the court clerk send in a new panel that would be more diverse and representative of the area.

The trial court ruled that the motion was untimely and would be rejected unless Mr. Cosgrove could present evidence that the clerk was choosing jurors improperly. After speaking to the jury clerk, Mr. Cosgrove reported that jurors were being  dismissed for economic hardship if they could provide documentation that their employers would not pay the difference between their daily jury pay of $10 and their normal wages. The clerk felt that such economically-disadvantaged persons would not make good jurors, and conceded that a disproportionate number of individuals of minority backgrounds would be excused on this basis.

Ultimately, the trial court overruled the defendant’s objection to the makeup of the panels. 

At the start of the trial, the victim took the stand and identified Mr. Tillman as her attacker. She described how, during the 50 minute duration of the attack, the car had been in a well-lit area and she had focused on memorizing the attacker’s facial features.

A forensic analyst testified that semen was found on the victim’s pantyhose and dress. Serological testing showed Mr. Tillman was among the 20 percent of the male population that could have produced the semen. However, the analyst did not note the possibility of evidence degradation, which would have changed the results. Evidence from the rape kit were not tested.

On Sept. 19, 1989, the jury convicted Mr. Tillman on all charges. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

He challenged his conviction based on a claim of unfair jury selection. In December 1991, the Connecticut Supreme Court rejected that argument and affirmed his convictions and sentence.

The Exoneration

By December 1991, Mr. Tillman had succeeded in obtaining DNA testing on the victim’s clothing. However, due to the underdeveloped state of testing methods at the time, the results were inconclusive.

In 2005, the Connecticut Innocence Project attorneys Karen Goodrow and Brian Carlow took on Mr. Tillman’s case. They ordered more advanced DNA testing on the case evidence, which excluded both Mr. Tillman and the victim’s husband. Instead, testing revealed a DNA profile that belonged to an unidentified male.

On June 6, 2006, Mr. Tillman’s conviction was vacated after the Superior Court granted a petition for a new trial based on DNA evidence. Mr. Tillman was released without bail.

Subsequently, further DNA testing was performed on one more stain on the dress, which revealed the DNA profile of the same unidentified male. 

On July 11, 2006, the prosecution dismissed the charges against Mr. Tillman.

In 2007, Mr. Tillman was awarded $5 million in compensation from the state of Connecticut.