News

Lawrence C. Marshall, attorney for Gary Dotson and legal director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, will appear with the Center's Rob Warden, and possibly Barry Scheck, at a hearing related to Dotson's petition for a gubernatorial pardon based on actual innocence.

The testimony on Dotson's behalf will take place at a hearing by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board at 9:00 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7, in Room 212, Illinois State Capitol Building, Springfield.

One of the most notorious criminal cases in recent Illinois history, the Dotson case is recognized nationally as the first post-conviction DNA exoneration in the United States.

Dotson will appear at the hearing with attorney Marshall and Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions.Warden, who investigated this case extensively in the 1980s, also will speak on Dotson's behalf.

Professor Barry Scheck, director of the Innocence Project of the Cardozo University Law School, also is expected to participate in the hearing.It is not known at this time whether the State's Attorney of Cook County will present witnesses in opposition to Dotson's petition.

The following is Marshall's summary of the case:

"Mr. Dotson's ordeal began on July 15, 1977, when he was arrested based on the accusation of a 16-year-old girl, Cathleen Webb. She said that Mr. Dotson had kidnaped and raped her. Mr. Dotson was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and kidnaping in 1979, based Webb's testimony, which was corroborated by semen stains on her underwear and by some cuts on her body.

"The trial court sentenced Mr. Dotson to spend 25 to 50 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The Illinois Appellate Court upheld the conviction and sentence in a 1981 decision. In 1985, Ms. Cathleen Crowell Webb (she got married and changed her named to Cathleen Crowell Webb) came forward to admit that she had fabricated the rape story.

"Ms. Crowell Webb explained that, she had not been raped, but instead had engaged in consensual sex with her boyfriend. She said that she had panicked, thinking she might have become pregnant. That would have infuriated her foster parents, so she concocted the rape story to cover for herself in the event she did became pregnant.

"Ms. Crowell Webb admitted that she had torn her own clothing and had used a bottle to cut her own abdomen in an effort to make her claim of rape appear more credible.

"Mr. Dotson sought post-judgment relief based on Ms. Crowell Webb's recantation, but the trial court found her recantation to be unbelievable and refused to free Mr. Dotson. The Illinois Appellate Court later affirmed this ruling.

"In the meantime, Mr. Dotson sought a pardon from then Gov. James Thompson, who personally presided over Mr. Dotson's televised clemency hearing May 10 through May 12, 1985. Gov. Thompson decided to deny Mr. Dotson an outright pardon to commute Mr. Dotson's sentence so that he would be released on parole immediately.

"Under the conditions of parole, any violation by Mr. Dotson would result in revocation of parole and reinstatement of his original 25-to-50-year sentence. Mr. Dotson was released on parole May 12, 1985. Several months later, Mr. Dotson was arrested after his then-wife told the police that he slapped her. As a result of this arrest, Mr. Dotson’s full remaining sentence was reinstated.

"Gov. Thompson allowed Mr. Dotson to be released on parole once again in December, 1987, but Mr. Dotson’s sentence for the rape of Ms. Crowell was again reinstated after Mr. Dotson was arrested for a fight in a restaurant.

"In 1988, Mr. Dotson sought out DNA testing in order to establish that he was not the person who had sexual contact with Ms. Crowell. Gov. Thompson agreed to allow the testing to proceed. On Aug. 15, 1998, the DNA results were announced. Mr. Dotson was absolutely excluded as the person whose semen was found on the underpants. By contrast, the DNA of Mrs. Crowell Webb's boyfriend matched the profile of the DNA found in the semen on the underpants. Based on these results, Mr. Dotson again sought judicial relief from his conviction.

"On Aug. 14, 1989, Judge Richard Fitzgerald granted Mr. Dotson's motion for a new trial based on the DNA evidence, stating "It is my belief that had this evidence been available at the original trial, the outcome would have been different." The State’s Attorney's Office immediately dropped all charges against Mr. Dotson.".

In Mr. Dotson's petition for clemency, Professor Marshall writes:

"Despite the procedural and other safeguards in our criminal justice system, the record in Illinois makes clear that our system is not infallible.It has been demonstrated that innocent persons have been, are and will continue to be incarcerated and wrongly convicted in Illinois.

"Although our legal system is not perfect, a pardon here for Mr. Dotson can, in some small measure, begin to redress the enormous and unjustified suffering that Mr. Dotson and his family endured as a result of his erroneous conviction and the more than six years he spent in prison. Moreover, a pardon here will reaffirm that the State of Illinois is committed to punishing the truly guilty, while protecting the innocent and vindicating the unfortunate victims of our system, such as Mr. Dotson.

Full copies of the Petition are available upon request.

• Categories: