Lawrence McKinney

The Crime

At about 5 a.m. on Oct. 2, 1977, a woman was awakened by two men, one armed with a knife, in the second-floor bedroom of her apartment in Memphis, Tennessee. The woman told police that the man with a knife put his hand over her mouth and held the knife to her throat. She said he demanded money. After she said she had none, both men then raped her.

They left with her television set, which was found later in a vacant building in the apartment complex where the woman lived.

The woman told police she knew the two men from the neighborhood as “Polly’s boy” and “Ollie Mae’s boy.” She provided the first name of one and the address of the other. 

The Investigation

Police first went to the home of 22-year-old Lawrence McKinney, but he was not home. They then went to the home of Michael Yancy, where they found Mr. McKinney lying on a couch and Mr. Yancy hiding in a closet.

Both men denied being involved in the crime. Mr. Yancy said he was hiding because he thought the police were there for something else. Mr. McKinney said they had spent the night of the crime drinking and watching television and did not leave Mr. Yancy’s apartment. Mr. Yancy told police he believed the woman was falsely accusing him because the woman wanted Mr. Yancy’s family to move out of the apartment complex.

On Oct. 7, 1977, both men were charged with rape and burglary. 

The Trial

In May 1978, Mr. McKinney and Mr. Yancy went on trial in Shelby County Criminal District Court. The woman, whose identity was not made public, identified them in court as her attackers. 

Lynn Lesak, a rape crisis center employee, testified that she examined the woman and took vaginal swabbings and blood samples for a rape kit. Ms. Lesak said the woman was “extremely reserved and composed as if she were possibly in a state of shock as if something traumatic had happened.”

A forensic serologist testified that she examined the contents of the rape kit. She said the vaginal swabbings tested positive for spermatozoa. 

On May 15, 1978, the jury convicted Mr. McKinney and Mr. Yancy of rape and burglary. They were each sentenced to 100 years in prison for rape and 10 years in prison for burglary.

The Exoneration

In 2008, Mr. Yancy sought and obtained a court order allowing for DNA testing. As part of the testing process, Mr. McKinney’s DNA also was submitted for testing.

In January 2009, tests of biological stains from the woman’s bed linen revealed a mixture of stains from three people — none of whom was Mr. McKinney. The tests identified the DNA profiles of the woman’s boyfriend, who was not involved in the attack, an unknown male, and Mr. Yancy.

Based on the test results excluding Mr. McKinney, attorneys William Massey and Lorna McClusky filed a motion to vacate Mr. McKinney’s convictions. On July 17, 2009, the convictions were vacated and the charges were dismissed. He was released on July 20, 2009.

In 2010, Mr. McKinney sought an official declaration of exoneration — a precursor to compensation of up to $1 million — but the Tennessee Board of Parole recommended against exoneration. Mr. McKinney applied again, and in 2016, the Board of Parole rejected him again.

In December 2017, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam officially exonerated Mr. McKinney, clearing the way for him to seek compensation. Mr. McKinney then filed a claim seeking $1 million in compensation. In March 2018, the Kentucky Board of Claims agreed to award him $1 million.