Non-IPNO exonerees
Willie Jackson
Years spent wrongfully incarcerated - 19
Causes of Wrongful Conviction - Eyewitness Misidentification; Improper and Invalidated Forensic Science
Release Date - August 24, 2005
Exoneration Date - May 26, 2006
Willie Jackson was arrested as a suspect in a 1986 Jefferson Parish rape case even though he was 185 miles away when the rape occurred. Authorities started investigating Willie when they discovered a note written to the victim that was written on the back of a bank receipt that belonged to Willie. Other than the bank slip and the victim's identification, other evidence pointed towards Willie's brother Milton as the assailant. Eyewitnesses said they saw Milton and the victim at the bar the night of the attack, and the victim's testimony and initial descriptions to police pointed to Milton being the rapist. The prosecution's case rested strongly on the dubious forensic science of odontology in which an expert "matched" a bite mark on the victim to Willie. A few days after Willie was convicted, Milton confessed to being the rapist, but authorities did not believe him. Willie remained in prison for 14 years before the courts granted him access to DNA testing. In 2004, after DNA test excluded him as the rapist, Willie was released and exonerated after 17 years in prison when the prosecution decided to drop charges against him.
Willie Jackson is also mentioned on the Innocence Project website
Further Reading:
Webster, Richard "Louisiana Slow to Free Imprisoned Innocents" The Journal of Jefferson Parish 25 May 2007