Profiles

In 1984, 17-year-old Dennis Brown, who spent his time taking care of his blind and ailing father, volunteered to be a "filler" in a police line-up. To his surprise, the victim identified him as her rapist despite the fact that she had only seen her masked assailant's eyes.

Astonishingly, the State focused on Mr. Brown as their suspect and made uncorroborated claims that he had confessed to the crime. Despite the high improbability of the State's case, Mr. Brown was convicted in St. Tammany Parish and sentenced to life in prison.

Once convicted, Mr. Brown, despite his learning difficulties, had no right to legal assistance with his case.

IPNO learned of Mr. Brown’s plight through another inmate and, in 2003, agreed to go to court and request that the evidence in his case be subjected to DNA testing.

On the day that Mr. Brown heard from IPNO, he was also notified by the prison staff that his father had passed away.

The DNA testing, unsurprisingly, provided conclusive proof of Mr. Brown’s innocence.

When informed, he simply said, “I told you I wouldn't waste your time.” After six months of re-testing – which confirmed his innocence – and the reversal of Mr. Brown’s conviction by the court, the district attorney finally dropped charges against him in March of 2005.

Dennis Brown was released Mr. Brown was released in September 2004 after 20 years had elapsed between his arrest and his exoneration. He was 36 years old.