Frederick Daye

The Crime

At about 7 p.m. on Jan. 10, 1984, two Black men attacked a white woman as she got into her car in a pharmacy parking lot in San Diego, California. One man pushed her into the passenger seat before getting into the driver’s seat. The other man got into the back seat before they drove off.

Darren Wells, who was in the parking lot and witnessed the abduction, called the police. He stated that the two men were wearing dark clothing and one was taller than the other. The taller of the two, Mr. Wells described, had a silver front tooth.

The woman was driven to a residential street where she was sexually assaulted by both men. The man in the back seat took the woman’s purse, while the driver took the woman’s earrings and necklace. The men then drove away, stopping once to drop the woman off on the street. They tossed her wallet at her as they drove off.

The woman sought help from a neighbor who called the police. When they arrived, she said the driver was about 25 years old, 5 feet 6 inches or 5 feet 7 inches, and wore dark clothing. She was taken to the hospital where a rape kit was collected. Swabs were taken of her clothing as well as the carpet of her car. 

The Investigation

Three days later, on Jan. 13, the victim helped police create composite sketches of her attackers.

On Jan. 18, a police officer stopped a car in San Diego for a traffic violation. Sitting in the front passenger seat was 26-year-old Frederick Rene Day, who was holding an open container of alcohol. Mr. Daye, who did not have an I.D. card on him, introduced himself as “Charles Donaldson.” Ultimately, he was taken to the police station so the officer could verify his identification.

At the station, officers learned that “Charles Donaldson” was an alias. Mr. Daye admitted to his real identity, allowed his photograph to be taken, and was released.

On Jan. 23, the victim was shown a photographic lineup that included a photograph of Mr. Daye, who had a silver front tooth. She identified him as the man who got into the front seat. 

Separately, Mr. Wells also viewed a photographic lineup and identified Mr. Daye.

On Jan. 25, Mr. Daye was arrested and and charged with rape, kidnapping, robbery, and auto theft. He denied involvement in the crime.

On March 20, Mr. Wells identified David Pringle as the man who got into the back seat of the victim’s car. Mr. Pringle was then charged with rape, kidnapping, robbery, and auto theft.

The Trial

Mr. Daye went to trial on May 21, 1984, in San Diego County Superior Court. His trial was severed from Mr. Pringle’s case.

On the first day of trial, Mr. Daye’s attorney asked the court to suppress the victim’s identification of his photograph and her subsequent in-court identification at a preliminary hearing, arguing that the photograph taken of him after the traffic stop was an illegal search. After an evidentiary hearing during which the victim testified, the court denied the motion. The court stated that the victim’s testimony was “plain and unequivocal,” and that “the courtroom identification at the [preliminary hearing] was not tainted by the viewing of the photograph.”

Both the victim and Mr. Wells testified and identified Mr. Daye as the man who got into the driver’s seat of the car. 

A forensic analyst testified that the victim and Mr. Daye shared the same blood type, which matched that of a stain found on the victim’s pant leg. The analyst stated that the fluid was “likely” semen and that it was consistent with Mr. Daye’s blood type. In response, the defense argued that, because testing did not detect a blood type or enzymes foreign to the victim, the victim’s blood type markers could have “masked” the perpetrator’s. This meant that, the defense asserted, no one could be excluded or included as a suspect.

The defense called Mr. Pringle as a witness, but he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and did not testify.

Mr. Daye, who was an ex-Marine, did not testify, but was required to show the jury his silver tooth. 

Defense witnesses testified that Mr. Daye was with his live-in girlfriend at a gathering of military veterans at the time of the crime.

On June 1, 1984, the jury convicted Mr. Daye of one count each of rape, kidnapping, robbery, and auto theft. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Subsequently, Mr. Pringle was convicted of the same charges and was also sentenced to life in prison.

In January 1986, the Fourth District California Court of Appeal affirmed Mr. Daye’s conviction and sentence. In May 1986, the Fourth District California Court of Appeal affirmed Mr. Pringle’s conviction and sentence.

The Exoneration

In 1990, Mr. Pringle signed an affidavit saying that Mr. Daye was not involved in the crime. In 1992, Mr. Daye’s attorney, Carmela Simoncini, filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing and for DNA testing, but the motion was denied. On appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal allowed for the expenditure of $2,000 to conduct DNA testing.

On April 21, 1994, DNA tests excluded Mr. Daye as the source of semen found on the victim’s pant leg. The testing also confirmed the presence of Mr. Pringle’s DNA and pointed to his cousin as the other attacker. The cousin, who also had a silver tooth, was never charged.

In June 1994, Mr. Daye filed a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his unlawful imprisonment. On Sept. 27, 1994, the petition was granted, his convictions were vacated, and the case was dismissed. Mr. Daye was released after more than 10 years in prison.

Mr. Daye was later awarded $389,000 in compensation from the state of California. He filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, but it was dismissed. Mr. Daye died in 2024. He was 66 years old.