Michigan Innocence Clinic Client Released After 17 Years of Wrongful Incarceration

09.11.18 By Innocence Staff

Mubarez Ahmed after his release on 9/6/18 with Sara Stappert (left) and Carolina Velarde, two law students who worked on his case. Photo courtesy of the Michigan Innocence Clinic.

Mubarez Ahmed after his release on 9/6/18 with Sara Stappert (left) and Carolina Velarde, two law students who worked on his case. Photo courtesy of the Michigan Innocence Clinic.

Last Thursday, Michigan Innocence Clinic (MIC) client Mubarez Ahmed was released after spending 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. In 2002, after having spent two years in jail awaiting trial, Ahmed was convicted of a double homicide in Detroit. He was sentenced to 40-60 years in prison.

“I don’t think words can describe how I feel,” Ahmed told The Detroit News after his release from the Wayne County Jail on Thursday. “I’m speechless. The air, the trees, freedom itself … close to 18 years for something you didn’t do, I can’t wrap my head around this.”

Ahmed was convicted solely on the basis of a single eyewitness’ testimony. Shortly after the crime, police received an anonymous tip from an eyewitness and arrested Ahmed. The eyewitness then selected Ahmed in a live lineup.

Years later, the eyewitness revealed that the lead detective in the case had instructed the eyewitness to choose Ahmed shortly before the lineup occurred.

Related: Eyewitness Misidentification

After investigating Ahmed’s case for eight years, the MIC filed a post-conviction motion in October 2017. During its investigation, the MIC discovered that a detective had falsely testified during the suppression hearing. The MIC also located two new witnesses, both of whom signed affidavits that another man had boasted about committing the murders.

In January 2018, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Conviction Integrity Unit agreed to re-examine Ahmed’s case. Its investigation uncovered additional information that supported Ahmed’s innocence. The unit concluded that Ahmed’s conviction could not stand and agreed to support the MIC’s motion for a new trial.

“This was a really weak case to begin with … an eyewitness ID was the entire case against him. There was no other evidence,” David Moran, director of the MIC, told The Detroit News. “She described the shooter as someone of a different race than Ahmed, and there was also an obvious suspect who wasn’t investigated.”

According to The Detroit News, the MIC eventually identified the suspected shooter after a similar double homicide years later. On August 15, Ahmed was granted a new trial after the MIC proved that his conviction lacked credible evidence.

“It’s very emotional and I’m not the only one who has been wrongly convicted in there,” Ahmed expressed to The Detroit News. “Everyone talks about justice, but it seems like they’re just looking for convictions. They don’t care who is innocent and who is guilty. Proper processing and highlighting these cases will prevent more from happening.”

Read the full story here.

Leave a Reply

Thank you for visiting us. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone.

This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.

Holly Holverson February 22, 2020 at 6:21 am Reply   

There are a number of things which MYSTIFY me about a good many WRONGFUL convictions. Most obvious are so-called detectives and other LEO’s (and sometimes the prosecutors) who egregiously STRIP the wrongly accused of their rights. They engage in the HIGHLY questionable tactic of witness coaching. They with hold KEY EVIDENCE from the defense, and they use blatantly illegal intimidation (oh, sorry. I meant interrogation) tactics, and a MYRIAD of other illegal and/or unconstitutional acts. In many of these cases, it’s their TUNNEL VISION, incompetence and/or ax sim illegal activity that sends an innocent person to prison for DECADES in some cases. Yet they ARE RARELY held accountable for their actions. Their actions have STOLEN countless years from the lives of innocent men and women, torn apart COUNTLESS FAMILIES yet they get to continue being detectives, prosecutors and what not. When some city is sued for wrongful imprisonment, and the wrongly convicted (or killed) wins a settlement, there needs to be a special investigation (NOT CONDUCTED BY THE POLICE UNION) but rather, an indifferent 3rd party to determine what went wrong. If it’s determined that there was witness coaching, illegal interrogation tactics, key evidence with held, etc etc, instead of the taxpayer having to foot 100% of the bill, a percentage of that award should come out of the responsible party’s paycheck. They have NO problem. doing it to citizens. They should also be held criminally responsible and nonexempt from prosecution. If the judicial system would take these measures and put them into play, there would likely be notably fewer wrongful convictions!