First Name | Frank |
Last Name | Sterling |
Year of Conviction | 1992 |
Year of Exoneration | 2010 |
Testing inculpated culprit | Non-Cold Hit |
State of Conviction | New York |
Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
Type of Crime | Murder |
Death Sentence | No |
Gender of Exoneree | Male |
Race of exoneree | White |
Juvenile | No |
Did the defendant testify at trial? | No |
Types of evidence at trial |
|
Were non-public facts alleged? | Yes |
Type of Forensic Evidence |
|
Types of Flawed Forensics |
|
Examples of Non-Public or Corroborated Facts and Inconsistencies | ● Location of murder on walking trail. ● Victim was wearing "a purple top or two-toned and dark pants," ● Victim was hit and kicked, and had pants taken off. ● Victim shot with a BB gun, thrown on trail BUT ● Signs victim was dragged into brush, not that she fell into the brush as described ● No entire BB Gun found. ● Victim was wearing a purple jacket with white stripes |
Quotes from law enforcement testimony | Officers described having asked open-ended questions, such as, “I asked ‘What clothing did she have on?’” |
Quotes from prosecution arguments | “Truthful? How does the defendant know it’s a purple jacket or purple top? A guess? Instead of saying yellow, red, orange, blue, black, green, gray, brown? He just guesses purple? And what is she wearing? A purple jacket, coincidentally, a two tone sweater… you also that that [the police] never releated to the media, held back from the media, was the purple jacket.” |
Interrogation Recorded | Videotape of part of interrogation |
Highest level reached | Appeal |