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Kenneth Beal

Other Harris County CIU Cases
On February 12, 2007, police in Houston, Texas arrested 23-year-old Kenneth Beal after they seized a substance from him that field-tested positive for cocaine.

On September 7, 2007, Beal pled guilty in Harris County Criminal District Court to possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to seven months in Texas State Jail.

The Houston Police Department crime laboratory tested the substance seized from Beal on November 12, 2009—more than two years after he pled guilty. The tests found that no controlled substances were present.

In 2014, the Harris County District Attorney’s Post Conviction Review Unit was notified of the negative laboratory test result and informed Beal’s defense attorney. The prosecution joined with Beal’s attorney in supporting a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus requesting that Beal’s conviction be vacated.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ in February 2015 and on April 2, the prosecution dismissed the charge.

– Maurice Possley

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Posting Date: 4/14/2015
State:Texas
County:Harris
Most Serious Crime:Drug Possession or Sale
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2007
Convicted:2007
Exonerated:2015
Sentence:7 months
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:23
Contributing Factors:False or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No