First Name | Bernard |
Last Name | Webster |
Year of Conviction | 1983 |
Year of Exoneration | 2002 |
Testing inculpated culprit | Cold Hit |
State of Conviction | Maryland |
Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
Type of Crime | Rape |
Death Sentence | No |
Gender of Exoneree | Male |
Race of exoneree | Black |
Juvenile | No |
Type of Innocence Defense |
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Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Two witnesses testified to seeing defendant far away from crime scene immediately prior to when crime occurred. |
Did the defendant testify at trial? | No |
Types of evidence at trial |
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Type of Forensic Evidence |
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Types of Flawed Forensics |
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Reason why invalid | (1) Masking |
Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | The victim was type B (secretor status not determined), and Webster was type A. The stain exhibited A and B blood group substances, so the perpetrator could have been an A or AB secretor. However, the analyst testified that perpetrator “should have been a Type A.” See Part II.A.1 for a description of the problem of masking and non-quantification and discussion of similar cases. |
Identity of eyewitness |
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Multiple eyewitnesses | 3 |
Lineup Procedures |
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Suggestive Procedures | No – little description of line-up |
Unreliable Identification? | No – vague description of attacker |
Highest level reached | Appeal |
Claims Raised During All Appeals and Postconviction |
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Citations to judicial opinions | Webster v. State, 474 A.2d 1305 (Md. 1984) |