Leonard Callace

In July 1986, Leonard Callace was charged with the January 1985 sexual assault of an 18-year-old nursing home aide at knifepoint in the parking lot of a shopping center. She had been accosted by two men and forced into a nearby car. The second man was never identified.
The victim picked Mr. Callace out of a lineup as her assailant. Eighteen months earlier, she had described her assailant as five feet 10 inches or taller, with reddish-blond afro style hair, a full beard, and a cross tattoo on his left hand. Mr. Callace is 5 feet 8 inches, had straight blond hair, a tightly trimmed goatee, and a tiny cross on his right hand. Prosecutors offered a deal to Mr. Callace: that he plead guilty and serve just four more months. Mr. Callace refused. The jury took one hour to convict him of four counts of sodomy, three counts of sexual abuse, wrongful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a weapon. On March 24, 1987, he was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.
At trial, the prosecution presented a sketch by police artists resembling Mr. Callace, the victim’s identification of Mr. Callace from a photo array and the victim’s in-court identification of Mr. Callace. The prosecution also showed that the blood group (ABO type) of the semen collected from the scene was the same as Mr. Callace’s. Mr. Callace presented an alibi, but it was uncorroborated.
Mr. Callace’s conviction was confirmed on appeal. After learning about DNA testing, he asked his attorney about the original trial evidence. The attorney remembered that the victim had just picked up her jeans from the cleaners and that she had spit out semen onto the jeans after one of the assaults. The jeans were secured from the prosecution for DNA testing at Lifecodes, Inc. On June 27, 1991, a judge granted Mr. Callace’s motion to consider DNA tests as new evidence. He also ruled that if the samples did not match, he would hold a hearing to consider post-conviction relief for Mr. Callace.
RFLP analysis on the victim’s jeans showed that the DNA in the semen stains did not match Mr. Callace.
On Oct. 5, 1992, Mr. Callace was released from prison. The prosecution dismissed all charges and did not pursue a new trial because of the DNA evidence and the reluctance of the victim to have another trial. Mr. Callace had served almost six years of his sentence.

Time Served:
5 years
State: New York
Charge: Sodomy, Sexual Abuse, Wrongful Imprisonment, Criminal Possession of Weapon
Conviction: Sodomy (4 cts.), Sexual Abuse (3 cts.), Wrongful Imprisonment, Criminal Possession of Weapon
Sentence: 25 to 50 years
Incident Date: 01/30/1985
Conviction Date: 03/24/1987
Exoneration Date: 10/05/1992
Accused Pleaded Guilty: No
Contributing Causes of Conviction: Eyewitness Misidentification
Death Penalty Case: No
Race of Exoneree: Caucasian
Race of Victim: Caucasian
Status: Exonerated by DNA
Type of Crime: Sex Crimes
Year of Exoneration: 1992