Profiles

Years transpired between initial arrest and exoneration - 12
Causes of Wrongful Conviction - Eyewitness Misidentification; Prosecutorial/Police Misconduct
Exoneration Date - March 6, 2006

In June 1994, Cedric Willis, who was then just 19 years old, was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for two crimes: (1) the June 12th attack on a couple in their driveway as they returned home late at night that included the rape of the wife and the robbery and shooting in the leg of the husband; and (2) the June 16th robbery of a family at gunpoint in their driveway as they returned home, which also involved the shooting of the father in the leg. Cedric Willis was charged with all of these crimes (including by then, the capital murder of the father from the June 16th robbery, as he had died from his wounds). All of the victims gave similar descriptions of the perpetrator, and ballistics testing showed the same gun was used in both crimes.

The actual assailant committed three other robberies within two hours of the murder with the same modus operandi: approach victims in their driveways, shoot them in the legs, grab whatever is at hand and flee. Cedric's photograph was shown to all victims as part of an array that, in spite of court orders to produce it, has never been seen since.  He was then put in a police line up in which he was at least fifty pounds heavier than the next largest participant.  He was identified by the victims of the rape and murder, but not by the victims in the three other burglaries.

A year after Cedric's arrest, DNA testing performed on the rape kit taken from the rape victim revealed a male profile that did not match Cedric Willis or her husband. At the insistence of the State, the kit was re-tested and again excluded Cedric Willis as the perpetrator.

The State of Mississippi then dropped the rape charges against Cedric Willis and re-indicted him on only the robbery and murder of the second family.  The State of Mississippi then moved to prevent Cedric Willis from being allowed to introduce the DNA test results at his armed robbery and murder trial and the court agreed that they should be kept out. The court would also not allow Cedric Willis to present evidence of the three  other robberies committed with the same gun within a two-hour time period of the robbery and murder for which he was on trial. Cedric Willis had a tight alibi for most of the evening covering the crime spree and  none of the victims from the other crimes could identify him.  Additionally, the police had numerous eyewitness reports describing the car used and its occupants which in no way linked Cedric Willis to the string of robberies.

Cedric Willis was effectively forced to trial with his hands tied in 1997. The jury, who heard only the compelling eyewitness testimony of the murder victim's family, convicted him quickly and he was sentenced to life in prison (for the murder) plus ninety years (thirty years each for the robbery of each of the rest of the murder victim's family). In September 2005, the Circuit Court of Hinds County reversed Cedric Willis's conviction and granted him a new trial on all counts. On March 6, 2006, Judge Tomie Green determined that the eyewitness identifications were inadmissible at a new trial and, upon joint motion of the defense and the State, dismissed the charges against him. An hour later, Cedric Willis walked down the front steps of the Hinds County jail into the arms of his family and supporters.

 Further Reading:

Editorial, "Prosecute the Prosecutors", Jackson Free Press, 9 December 2009.

Johns, Brian, "Deepest Midnight: Cedric Willis and The Failure of Mississippi Justice", Jackson Free Press, 8 December 2009.

Lynch, Adam, "Willis to be Compensated for 'Egregarious' Prosecution", Jackson Free Press, 8 December 2009.