Convicting the Innocent
DNA Exonerations Database

Walter D Smith

First Name Walter D
Last NameSmith
Year of Conviction1986
Year of Exoneration1996
State of ConvictionOhio
Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty PleaTrial
Type of CrimeRape
Death SentenceNo
Gender of ExonereeMale
Race of exonereeBlack
JuvenileNo
Did the defendant testify at trial?No
Types of evidence at trial
  • Eyewitness
Identity of eyewitness
  • Cross Racial Identification
  • Victim
Multiple eyewitnesses3
Lineup Procedures
  • Lineup
Suggestive Procedures

No (unknown)

Unreliable Identification?

No ● Discrepancies in description – height, weight, voice

Quotes from testimony #2

Appellate documents described “disparity in the descriptions originally given by the victims to the police with respect to the height, weight and voice characteristics of their assailant and the actual height, weight and voice characteristics of the Petitioner.”

Highest level reachedAppeal
Claims Raised During All Appeals and Postconviction
  • Brady
  • Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
  • Jackson Claim
  • Motion for DNA Testing
  • Prosecutorial Misconduct
  • State Law Evidence Claim
  • Suggestive Eyewitness Identification
Harmless Error Rulings
  • HE
  • NP
Citations to judicial opinions

State v. Smith, 1988 WL 79080 (Ohio App. 1988.)
State v. Smith, 1995 WL 771425 (Ohio App.10 Dist. 1995.)