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Larry Booker

Other California Conviction Integrity Unit Exonerations
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/PublishingImages/Merced_County%20(1).jpg
In August 1991, 36-year-old Larry Booker was arrested on a charge of sexually molesting his daughter six years earlier, when she was 10 years old, in his home in Merced County, California.

His daughter told police that in 1985, she visited Booker, who had divorced her mother and remarried. During a visit, she said, Booker molested her.

In 1993, Booker pled no contest to a charge of sexually molesting a child under the age of 13 in Merced County Superior Court. He was sentenced to probation.

In 2016, Booker’s daughter reached out to her father and said that after going through therapy, she concluded that she had falsely accused her father instead of the person who had molested her. Instead, she said, her mother’s brother had molested her.

She then contacted the Merced County Sheriff’s Office. She was referred to Robert Carroll, chief deputy district attorney and the head of the Merced County District Attorney conviction integrity unit.

Anna Hazel, an investigator in the district attorney’s office, began reinvestigating the case. She interviewed Booker’s daughter and Booker, who had never violated probation and had been a registered sex offender for more than 25 years.

Booker took a polygraph examination. He denied molesting his daughter and the examiner concluded he was truthful. Booker said he admitted to the crime at the time so his daughter would not have to testify in court.

In October 2017, Carroll filed a motion to vacate and dismiss Booker’s conviction. On October 17, visiting Judge Douglas Mewhinney granted the motion and the case was dismissed.

– Maurice Possley

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Posting Date: 7/30/2018
State:California
County:Merced
Most Serious Crime:Child Sex Abuse
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:1985
Convicted:1993
Exonerated:2017
Sentence:Probation
Race/Ethnicity:White
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:30
Contributing Factors:Perjury or False Accusation
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No