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Darian Contee

Other Texas Cases with Inadequate Legal Defense
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On February 18, 2006, police went to a motel room in Lubbock, Texas to investigate a complaint of marijuana smoking. During a search of the room, police confiscated a handgun and arrested the owner, 28-year-old Darian Contee.
 
Contee pled guilty on September 4, 2007 to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and was sentenced to three years in prison.
 
In January 2010, police took the weapon out of storage to carry out ballistic tests because they suspected it was used in a homicide. Crime lab technicians then discovered that the gun was actually an air pistol.
 
Contee’s defense attorney had never checked the gun prior to his guilty plea and the prosecution took the word of police that they confiscated a real handgun.
 
The Lubbock County District Attorney joined with an attorney appointed to represent Contee in filing a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
 
Contee was released from prison on February 18, 2010. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued the writ and set aside the conviction on August 5, 2010.
 
The prosecution dismissed the charges on August 20, 2010.
Contee filed a compensation claim under the state’s wrongful imprisonment statute and in August 2011, he received $214,583 and a monthly annunity of $1,000.
 
– Maurice Possley

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Posting Date: 10/19/2012
Last Updated: 11/18/2014
State:Texas
County:Lubbock
Most Serious Crime:Weapon Possession or Sale
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2006
Convicted:2007
Exonerated:2010
Sentence:3 years
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:18
Contributing Factors:Inadequate Legal Defense
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No