San Antonio Four Fully Exonerated Nov 23 2016!
‘San Antonio 4’ declared innocent, exonerated by Court of Criminal Appeals. Fort Worth, TX. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday November 23 2016 that the women known as the “San Antonio 4” are innocent and are exonerated. Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez were wrongfully convicted in trials held in 1997 (Ms. Ramirez), and in 1998 (Mss. Mayhugh, Rivera and Vasquez) of sexually assaulting Ramirez’s nieces, ages seven and nine. The four women were sent to prison. Ms. Vasquez was paroled in 2012 when the Innocence Project of Texas took up their case and all four clearly passed polygraph tests asserting their innocence. The other three women were released on bail in 2013 after lawyers working for the Innocence Project of Texas uncovered additional evidence of innocence never presented at trial, as well as a complete and total recantation of one of the alleged ‘victims’, asserting that “none of it ever happened” to either her or her sister. Finally, the State’s expert witness at trial, the pediatrician who initially conducted the physical examinations of the two girls, recanted her trial testimony, acknowledging that new scientific research caused her to realize that her testimony at trial was inaccurate. In a thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that the four women had met their “Herculean” task of proving their innocence by clear and convincing evidence. “[These] defendants have won the right to proclaim to the citizens of Texas that they did not commit a crime. That they are innocent. That they are exonerated. This Court grants them the relief they seek.” Mike Ware, Innocence Project of Texas Executive Director, who, along with Keith Hampton, Gary Udashen, Casie Gotro, and Walter Reaves, represented the San Antonio Four, called the decision “courageous” and a “joyful day in a long road to justice.”
RELEASED! November 18, 2013: All four women out of prison. Read more here
Nov 20 2013 Press Conference with all 4 women, their lawyers and advocates at bottom of page here
Nov 21 2013 San Antonio Express News urges Court of Appeals to "waste no time" in reviewing this case
For history of this case, see FourLivesLost tab above.
Nov 20 2013 Press Conference with all 4 women, their lawyers and advocates at bottom of page here
Nov 21 2013 San Antonio Express News urges Court of Appeals to "waste no time" in reviewing this case
For history of this case, see FourLivesLost tab above.
ELIZABETH, ANNA, CASSIE AND KRISTIE inShare
Elizabeth Ramirez and others. The fallacious claims of a nine and a seven year old, pressured by their custodial parent and his mother, sent their aunt Elizabeth and three of her friends to prison. There was no real evidence against them other than "junk science". The prosecutor of the case, in San Antonio in 1998, suggested that because the four women were lesbians that they were more likely to commit this sort of crime. . .and because they didn't have financial resources, they could not afford good legal counsel. . . A man in Canada discovered this case, became an advocate and created a website. Read More . Another good summary here (Dec 4 2013) Now we have top-notch lawyer, the Innocence Project of Texas, and a small but growing group of advocates across the country working to exonerate these women!