| First Name | Kenneth |
| Last Name | Adams |
| Year of Conviction | 1978 |
| Year of Exoneration | 1996 |
| Testing inculpated culprit | Non-Cold Hit |
| State of Conviction | Illinois |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Rape and Murder |
| Death Sentence | No |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | Black |
| Juvenile | Yes |
| Type of Innocence Defense |
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| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Defendant’s mother said he was sleeping at home at the time of the crime. |
| Quotes from Exoneree Testimony | 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 | (5) Hair match; Invalid use of serology |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | The hairs looked “[J]ust like if you dropped two dollar bills and you see two dollar bills on the floor. You see two one dollar bills. It’s obvious.” See Part II.B.2. for a discussion of this case. Adams’s blood exhibited an “H reaction” similar to the A type blood found in samples from the victim. “I believe the population is less than two percent of the people that have that” type of clumping due to an “H reaction.” No empirical data supported such a statistic. In addition, serological retesting by Edward T. Blake, an independent forensic scientist, established that the original testimony had been incorrect and that co-defendant Dennis Williams in fact was a type A non-secretor. |
| Identity of eyewitness |
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| Lineup Procedures |
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| Suggestive Procedures | Yes ● Suggestive line-up ● Shown only three photos in addition to three photos of defendants |
| Quotes from testimony #1 | Witness recalled seeing “Maybe three pictures” in addition to those of the three defendants |
| Unreliable Identification? | Yes ●Initial non-identification ● Did not i.d. until offered relocation |
| Quotes from testimony #2 | Q. When did you and the State’s Attorney decide that these people were the ones you saw? A. I decided that when I was going to be relocated. He added, “That’s when I decided to identify them” |
| Jailhouse informant, Co-defendant, Incentivized Witness | IW, J |
| Examples of Non-Public or Corroborated Facts and Inconsistencies | ● Jailhouse informant testified that shortly after Williams and Rainge were arrested, he overheard them talking in the Cook County Jail about how they had killed a man and "taken" sex from a woman. ● Paula Gray, later also charged, had falsely confessed and implicated Adams, Rainge and Williams |
| 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.” |
| Quotes regarding any deal or leniency with informant, or prior use of informant | ● Post-conviction, the informant admitted lying and a Brady violation. The L.A. Times reported that in an affidavit, he “said that in exchange for his testimony a burglary charge against him was dropped.” However, on the witness stand he denied any such deal – “There was no promises.” He did admit that he was released on a $25,000 bond for burglary charges |
| 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. Rainge. 445 N.E.2d 535 (Ill. App. 1 Dist. 1983) |