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Jerry Brock

Other Washington Cases with Perjury or False Accusation
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In March 1995, 35-year-old Jerry Brock was charged with sexually molesting an 11-year-old girl as she was sleeping in Olympia, Washington.

Brock, who was a friend of the girl’s mother, went to trial in Thurston County Superior Court in July 1995. The girl testified that she woke up to Brock fondling her.

Brock denied to police that he fondled the girl, but did not testify at the trial. On July 12, 1995, he was convicted of first-degree child molestation. Because of his prior convictions for promoting prostitution and burglary, Brock was sentenced to life in prison under Washington’s “three strikes” law.

His conviction was upheld by the Washington Court of Appeals in 1997.

In 2012, the complainant, Regina Rush, wrote a six-page recantation letter that became the basis of a motion for a new trial.
In November 2014, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Erik Price held a hearing during which the 31-year-old Rush testified that she falsely accused Brock because she wanted attention from her mother.

She also said she was concerned that Brock was a drug user and that he was having a bad influence on her mother. Rush testified that she had previously been taken away from her mother due to her mother's drug use, and she didn't want it to happen again. Rush did not know that Brock was still in prison—she said she recanted because she wanted to clear her conscience.

On November 14, Judge Price granted Brock a new trial. “Ms. Rush testified that she realized just how wrong it is to make such serious false accusations," the judge wrote in his order. “The dishonesty was eating away at her inside and she didn't want to carry that burden any longer.”

On November 20, 2014, Brock was released on bond pending a retrial. On December 18, 2014, the prosecution dismissed the charge.

In March 2016, Brock filed a claim against the state of Washington, seeking $1.1 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction.

– Maurice Possley

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Posting Date: 2/17/2015
Last Updated: 7/21/2017
State:Washington
County:Thurston
Most Serious Crime:Child Sex Abuse
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:1995
Convicted:1995
Exonerated:2014
Sentence:Life
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:35
Contributing Factors:Perjury or False Accusation
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No