william gregory
7 Years Lost
Cause of Conviction: Rape; Attempted Rape; Burglary
County: Jefferson
Trial/Plea: Trial
Race: African-American
Year 1993
Sentence: 70
Time Served: 7
Date Sentence Vacated: July 5, 2000
Reason Sentence Vacated: Cross-Racial ID; Fabricated Hair Comparison
Cause of Wrongful Conviction: Eyewitness misidentification; invalidated forensic science
William Gregory was convicted of one count of Rape, one count of Attempted Rape, and one count of Burglary, in conjunction with two attempted or completed rapes that occurred at the apartment complex where he lived. He was sentenced to seventy years, and served seven years in prison before being exonerated by the Innocence Project (New York).
Prior to trial, both victims identified Mr. Gregory as their attacker, the second victim through a show-up procedure. Forensic evidence consisted of hairs found in the stocking cap worn and left behind by the assailant. A forensic analyst testified that the hairs were of Negroid origin, that they shared “unusual characteristics” with Gregory’s hairs, which the examiner had never seen before except in cattle. As a result of these unusual characteristics, the examiner testified that the hairs were “more than likely” from Gregory.
After his appeal was denied, the Innocence Project located the evidence in his case and arranged to have the hairs in the stocking cap tested using mitochondrial DNA testing, which at the time was a relatively new form of DNA testing. The DNA testing excluded Gregory from being a possible contributor of the hairs found in the stocking cap.
When Gregory was released in 2000, he became the first person to be exonerated by mitochondrial testing alone, as well as the first inmate to be exonerated based on DNA testing in Kentucky. Well after his exoneration, in 2009, the National Academy of Sciences report found a total absence of evidence establishing the statistical reliability of hair comparison evidence. The report pointed to one FBI study finding a “false positive” rate of 12.5%, meaning that in more than 1 out of every 10 cases, trained hair analysts found hair to be a “match” when DNA evidence established that it was not. Gregory was clearly a victim of that phenomenon.
For more information on the case:
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3263