Herman May
Incident Year: 1988
Jurisdiction: Franklin County
Year of Conviction: 1990
Conviction: Rape, Sodomy
Sentence: 20 Years
Exoneration Date: 9/18/2002
Sentence Served: 13 Years
Cause of Wrongful Conviction: Unvalidated
or Improper Forensic Science, False Witness
Testimony
Herman was convicted of rape and sodomy and received 20 year sentences for
each offense when he was just 18 years old. Having just about given up hope of
ever being able to convince anyone of his innocence, Herman contacted the
Kentucky Innocence Project in September 2000.
His case was one of the first assigned to students to investigate in January 2001.
Physical evidence was found to still exist in his case and after a thorough
investigation, KIP requested DNA testing.
After the initial tests excluded Herman, the Commonwealth requested testing on
all of the physical evidence. After months of testing, the Franklin Circuit Court
tuled that if the results were presented to a new jury that a different verdict was
likely, granted Herman a new trial and, on September 18, 2002, ordered Herman’s
immediate release from prison.
It was also found that the victim in this case had lied about the last time she had
engaged in intercourse prior to the rape. Originally, she told the police it had been
a month before; she later recanted and stated that it had actually been two days
before. Herman is now married and has two children.
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