Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content

Freddie Lee Gaines

Other Alabama Cases
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/PublishingImages/Freddie_Lee_Gaines%20(1).jpg
In 1972, two Birmingham, Alabama, residents – Johnnie Swanson and Mary Wright – were shot and killed during a robbery of their apartment.  A third woman survived because the shooter’s gun jammed.  The survivor initially remembered few details about the crime, but later identified Freddie Lee Gaines as the shooter.  In accordance with the governing Alabama law at the time, Gaines was tried separately for the two murders.  In October 1974, a jury convicted Gaines of second-degree murder in the death of Wright, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.  Gaines was acquitted of Swanson’s murder in 1976.
 
In July 1985, Gaines was released from prison for good behavior.  Five years later, in August 1990, Larry Dennis Cohen was arrested on drug charges, and eventually gave the authorities a detailed confession of the 1972 murders.  Based on this new evidence of innocence, the prosecution moved to vacate Gaines’s conviction.  The trial court granted the motion in February 1991, and all charges were dismissed.  In 1996, Gaines received $1 million in compensation from the state legislature, and in February 2005, he received a full pardon.
 
- Stephanie Denzel
 

Report an error or add more information about this case.

Posting Date:  Before June 2012
State:Alabama
County:Jefferson
Most Serious Crime:Murder
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:1972
Convicted:1974
Exonerated:1991
Sentence:30 years
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:22
Contributing Factors:Mistaken Witness ID
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No