| First Name | Billy |
| Last Name | Wardell |
| Year of Conviction | 1988 |
| Year of Exoneration | 1997 |
| Testing inculpated culprit | Cold Hit |
| 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 |
| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Missing defense portion of trial transcript. |
| 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), (3) Masking; false probability |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | See Reynolds, above. The victim was an A secretor; Wardell was a B secretor; and codefendant Reynolds an O secretor. “When I ran that swab I picked up both A and H activity which is indicative of a Type A individual and a Type O individual.” “Donald Reynolds is included in the group that could have deposited the semen on that swab.” The analyst agreed that more than 43% had that type, yet the findings were entirely consistent with the victim. See Dr. Edward Blake, Review of the Testimony of Pamela Fish, January 9, 2001. 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 | 2 |
| Suggestive Procedures | No transcript |
| Highest level reached | Appeal |
| Claims Raised During All Appeals and Postconviction |
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| Harmless Error Rulings |
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| Citations to judicial opinions | People v. Wardell, 595 N.E.2d 1148 (Ill. 1992) |