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Martin Kimsey

Other Texas Robbery Cases
On May 28, 1985, an armored car was robbed outside a grocery store in Garland, Texas.  Days later, Martin Kimsey was arrested and charaged with the robbery.  In October 1985, after a witness identified Kimsey, a jury convicted him of armed robbery and he was sentenced to life in prison. 
 
After his conviction, Kimsey read about two men, Robert Warwick and James Garrett, who had been convicted of several armored car robberies similar to the one in Garland.  Kimsey wrote to Warwick in 1987, saying he believed Warwick and his partner were responsible for the robbery in Garland and begging him to confess.  In 1989, Garrett’s wife called the FBI and told them that Garrett wanted to talk to them about a crime that he had committed, but for which someone else was serving time.  Garrett provided the FBI with details of the Garland robbery that only the robber would know, and both he and Kimsey passed polygraph examinations confirming their respective claims.  Dallas County prosecutors requested a pardon for Kimsey in February 1990 and Kimsey was released.  The governor pardoned Kimsey in May 1990.
 
- Stephanie Denzel

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Posting Date:  Before June 2012
Last Updated: 11/18/2014
State:Texas
County:Dallas
Most Serious Crime:Robbery
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:1985
Convicted:1985
Exonerated:1990
Sentence:Life
Race/Ethnicity:White
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:45
Contributing Factors:Mistaken Witness ID
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No