Bennie Starks

First Name	Bennie
Last Name	Starks
Year of Conviction	1986
Year of Exoneration	2013
State of Conviction	Illinois
Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea	Trial
Type of Crime	Rape
Death Sentence	No
Gender of Exoneree	Male
Race of exoneree	Black
Juvenile	No
Types of evidence at trial	Eyewitness Forensic Evidence
Type of Forensic Evidence	Bite Mark Hair Serology
Types of Flawed Forensics	Invalid Vague
Reason why invalid	(6) Conclusion evidence came from defendant
Brief Quote / Description of Testimony	As to bite mark, found "some unusual characteristics" and "lots of points of similarity" concluding that "My opinion is that Mr. Starts bit [the victim] in the shoulder" Hairs were "similar" and "could have come from him"
Identity of eyewitness	Cross Racial Identification Victim
Highest level reached	State Post Conviction
Claims Raised During All Appeals and Postconviction	Actual Innocence Sentencing — Noncapital State Law Evidence Claim
Citations to judicial opinions	People v. Starks, 850 N.E.2d 206 (Ill App 2 Dist 2006) People v. Starks, 850 N.E.2d 206 (Ill App 2 Dist 2006) People v. Starks, 966 N.E.2d 247 (2012) People v. Staris, 975 N.E.2d 71 (Ct App 2 Dist 2012)