| First Name | James |
| Last Name | O’Donnell |
| Year of Conviction | 1998 |
| Year of Exoneration | 2000 |
| State of Conviction | New York |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Rape |
| Death Sentence | No |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | White |
| Juvenile | No |
| Type of Innocence Defense |
|
| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Defendant’s long time girlfriend testified that defendant was asleep at the time the crime occurred. This was corroborated by her son who testified to seeing defendant asleep at this time. ● Defense presented witness who came forward with a suspect that matched the sketch she saw in the newspaper. |
| Did the defendant testify at trial? | No |
| Types of evidence at trial |
|
| Type of Forensic Evidence |
|
| Types of Flawed Forensics |
|
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | The odontologist found defendant’s teeth “consistent” with the bite marks. |
| Identity of eyewitness |
|
| Multiple eyewitnesses | 2 |
| Lineup Procedures |
|
| Suggestive Procedures | Yes ● Victim not told attacker might not be in line-up ● Defendant repeated from photo array to line-up |
| Quotes from testimony #1 | Detective testified: “I stated to her that I wanted her to look at the lineup and let us know if she recognized anyone.” Others in line-up did not resemble initial description (nor did O’Donnell – and O’Donnell’s long hair was pulled back and hidden) |
| Unreliable Identification? | No ● Discrepancies in description – composite and initial description, of a man with stubble and dark short hair, looked nothing like defendant, who had long red hair and prominent fu-manchu mustache |
| Quotes from testimony #2 | “She indicated to you that the perpetrator of the offense had no mustache; is that correct? A. Yes, it is.” She indicated that the attacker had hair that was “short” and had no facial hair. |
| Highest level reached | NR |