| First Name | Dennis |
| Last Name | Williams |
| Year of Conviction | 1978 |
| Year of Exoneration | 1996 |
| Testing inculpated culprit | Cold Hit |
| State of Conviction | Illinois |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Rape and Murder |
| Death Sentence | Yes |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | Black |
| Juvenile | No |
| Type of Innocence Defense |
|
| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Defendant was the sole alibi witness. |
| Did the defendant testify at trial? | Yes |
| Quotes from Exoneree Testimony | “Q: Then what, if anything did you do? A: In went into the house and I stopped in the kitchen and got me some popcorn and a cup of pop and went on into my room and got a yoga book and started briefing through the book. I had been through it before. I was just reviewing and I was eating the popcorn and drinking the pop all along, you know. And after that I just went to bed.”; “Well, all I was advising them of was I didn’t know anything about what they was charging me with.” |
| Types of evidence at trial |
|
| Type of Forensic Evidence |
|
| Types of Flawed Forensics |
|
| Reason why invalid | (5) Hair match; incorrect testing |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | See Adams, supra and Part II.B.2. In addition, the analyst testified that Williams is an A secretor. Later analysis disclosed that Williams is actually an A nonsecretor. See Part II.F.2. |
| Identity of eyewitness |
|
| Lineup Procedures |
|
| Suggestive Procedures | Yes ● Suggestive line-up – see Adams |
| Unreliable Identification? | Yes ● Initial nonidentification – see Adams |
| Jailhouse informant, Co-defendant, Incentivized Witness | CD, J |
| Examples of Non-Public or Corroborated Facts and Inconsistencies | ● Non-public facts – see Adams and Rainge cases |
| Quotes from testimony #3 | Jailhouse informant testified: “Dennis Williams said he’s glad he took care of the guy and he was tellint Una don’t worry about nothing because they’re gone. They’ll never find the pistol, you know.” And that “they didn’t really shouldn’t have took it from the lady, you know.” |
| Highest level reached | Appeal |
| Claims Raised During All Appeals and Postconviction |
|
| Claims granted, resulting in preexon. reversal |
|
| Harmless Error Rulings |
|
| Citations to judicial opinions | People v. Williams, 444 N.E.2d 136 (Ill. 1982) |