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POLICE/PRISON

Wrongfully Incarcerated at 16, Woman Released 26 Years Later

Laquanda “Faye” Jacobs was released from prison last Tuesday after 26 years of wrongful incarceration in Arkansas. Jacobs was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 16 for capital murder, but the Innocence Project argues she was a typical example of a wrongful conviction.

“Faye’s case has all the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction — incentivized testimony, procedures known to lead to eyewitness misidentifications and absolutely inadequate counsel,” said Tricia Bushnell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project. “Faye’s attorneys never investigated the crime and didn’t even ask the state for its files…As a result, they never spoke to five additional eyewitnesses who saw the crime and stated that Faye was not the shooter.”

Following the fatal shooting of the victim in 1993, witnesses described a shooter who was a woman in her thirties wearing a black coat with black pants and with scars under her eyes. Jacobs, who was arrested just one hour after the crime was committed, was 16 at the time and wearing a white dress she wore to church that morning. Jacobs also does not have scars under her eyes.

Free But Not Exonerated

While Jacobs is free, she has not yet been exonerated. She was released because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children cannot receive mandatory life sentences without parole and she was granted a release based on time served. Her conviction still stands, but her legal team is working to get her exonerated.

The only way Jacobs can be fully exonerated is to be granted a state pardon from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. As such, Jacobs lawyers are petitioning the governor for a pardon based on the argument that her defense was inadequate. They are also calling into question the legitimacy of the state’s two witnesses who identified Jacobs as the shooter.

“Social science now confirms the identification procedures used back in 1992 increased the risk of eyewitness misidentification,” said Bushnell. “And eyewitness misidentification is a leading cause of wrongful convictions. It has played a role in more than 75 percent of convictions overturned through DNA testing.”

Jacobs now has a GoFundMe donation page to help her re-entry into society.

“Faye’s case exemplifies just how difficult it is to overturn a conviction in our justice system,” Bushnell stated. “It should not be this hard, but she’s not done seeking justice, and neither are we.”

 

DNA Frees Man After 41 Years For a Crime He Didn’t Commit

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0 Comment

  1. Janet Bento Li July 23, 2018

    Father God, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven for this woman. Amen.

    Reply
  2. Frank Renew July 23, 2018

    Outrageous

    Reply
  3. Linda Bednarz July 23, 2018

    Thank God you were released! What a miscarriage of justice!

    Reply
  4. Gloria Kornblum White July 23, 2018

    Sad that she had to spend all those years away from her family and friends.

    Reply
  5. Kevin Cahoon July 23, 2018

    Get a good lawyer and sue the shit out if them…

    Reply
  6. Deborah Willis July 23, 2018

    A loss that can never be restored!???

    Reply
  7. Gail Ladella July 23, 2018

    SO SORRY

    Reply
  8. Valerie Vickers July 23, 2018

    Omg

    Reply
  9. Lauren Nimtz July 23, 2018

    Geee…….and she just happened to be black…….

    Reply
  10. Susan Peterson July 23, 2018

    this is a crime a life ruined, nothing can bring that back..shame on tbe judge and he should be held liable for her lost years

    Reply
  11. Louise Dodson July 23, 2018

    So where is the wrongful prison law suit? should have some reward

    Reply
  12. JoAnn Connor July 23, 2018

    How will she assimilate after being institutionalized all these years? Such a travesty…..

    Reply
  13. Darlarae Osborn July 23, 2018

    ?

    Reply
  14. Tania Marcotty July 23, 2018

    Heaven help her as republicans won’t

    Reply
  15. Susan Schulte July 24, 2018

    Take the scrum bags to court.

    Reply
  16. MAAT July 26, 2018

    The problem isn’t whether she was a minor,some at age 16 or even before don’t deserve to be free in… https://t.co/DDJnYW0193

    Reply
  17. Alex Fedora July 26, 2018

    Sorry

    Reply
  18. Frank Cromis July 26, 2018

    How sad for her.

    Reply
  19. Carol Zorn August 23, 2018

    OmG. The two americas So many that have no money for attorneys,,,a lot of state funded ones don’t care. They get the same amount, rather they do anything or not. So they don’t.

    Reply
  20. Irving B Gilbert August 23, 2018

    Kill all lawyers involved

    Reply
  21. Larry L. Cunningham August 23, 2018

    Never to get her youth back!

    Reply

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