Juan Carlos Gonzales-Barbosa
5 Years Lost
Cause of Conviction: Rape 3rd
County: Henderson
Trial/Plea: Plea
Race: White-Hispanic
Year: 1994
Sentence: 5
Time Served: 5
Date Sentence Vacated: November 3, 2016
Reason Sentence Vacated: DNA testing
Cause of Wrongful Conviction: Unreliable witness testimony and ineffective assistance of counsel
Mr. Barbosa is a foreign national who was accused of Rape in 1994. The DNA evidence which would conclusively identify the perpetrator was sent for testing, but those test results had not been interpreted when, in 1994, his attorney convinced him to plea guilty to a considerably reduced sentence. The fact that both the prosecution and defense counsel were eager to consummate such an arrangement reflects the extent to which the justice system values results over fact finding.
The Commonwealth’s incentive to arrange a plea bargain was that the testing would not be interpreted, which could have exposed that they had charged the wrong person with the crime. Defense counsel had the same incentive to agree to the bargain, as DNA results matching Mr. Barbosa would have ruined his leverage to obtain a favorable plea agreement. The truth of the case was readily at hand, but neither side was willing to wait for it, being that it could undermine their ability to claim a favorable result.
Mr. Barbosa served out his sentence. Several years after Barbosa was released from prison, his rape conviction would be presented as a predicate offense for another charge. KIP got involved and had the previous DNA testing results interpreted. The results of the testing conclusively established that Barbosa was not the perpetrator. Nevertheless, even though Barbosa was undeniably innocent, the Commonwealth litigated the legal significance of the test results for over three years, arguing that the results should not be considered because they were obtained too late. The Kentucky Court of Appeals found that these procedural arguments should not trump the evident fact that Mr. Barbosa had not committed the crime, and the Kentucky Supreme Court refused to consider the Commonwealth’s request to review that decision. As a result, Mr. Barbosa’s conviction was finally vacated.
For more information on this case:
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5240