On February 28, 2005, Ohio Common Pleas Judge Richard Niehaus dismissed all charges against Derrick Jamison for the death of a Cincinnati bartender after prosecutors elected not to retry him in the case. (Associated Press, March 3, 2005). The prosecution had withheld critical eyewitness statements and other evidence from the defense resulting in the overturning of Jamison's conviction in 2002. Jamison was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985 based in part on the testimony of Charles Howell, a co-defendant who had his own sentence reduced in exchange for his testimony against Jamison.

The prosecution withheld statements that contradicted Howell’s testimony and that would have undermined the prosecution’s theory of how the victim died, and would have pointed to other possible suspects for the murder. Two federal courts ruled that the prosecution's actions denied Jamison of a fair trial. (Jamison v. Collins, 291 F.3d 380 (6th Cir. 2002)).

One of the withheld statments involved James Suggs, an eyewitness to the robbery. Suggs testified at trial that he had been unable to make a positive identification when the police showed him a photo array of suspects. In fact, police records show that Suggs identified two suspects, neither of which was Derrick Jamison. Additional withheld evidence consisted of a series of discrepancies between Jamison’s physical characteristics and the descriptions of the perpetrators given to police investigators by eyewitnesses.

The co-defendant Howell recently testified that he could not remember anything about the crime, and state prosecutors decided not to proceed against Jamison. He remains incarcerated on other unrelated charges. (See also, K. Perry, "'85 Murder Conviction Dismissed," Cincinnati Post, Mar. 1, 2005).

Jamison is the 119th innocent person to be freed from death row since 1973 and the first to be exonerated in 2005.

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Thanks for this Skye!

One has to wonder how many innocent people went to the death chamber when they have found 119 who should have gone but were proven innocent before they could be put to death.

It would be interesting to have the total number of people put to death since 1973 just to see what the percentage of those found innocent make up.

Now, the question in my mind is, will the prosecutors responsible for this deliberate miscarriage of justice be charged with anything? Pergery? Interference with justice? And how much will this man get in compensation for the justice system stealing 20 years of his life?

Tom

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An eye for an eye and soon the whole world is blind!

I hope that Lady Luck shines on Derrick when he is released from prison. God has given him a new lease on life. I hope he makes things happen for himself and is a role model out there for each person who is touched by his story. May a higher power show him favor. I think he already has. Sincerely, Fran