Rubin Carter

On 11 January 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court left standing the order vacating the conviction. On 26 February, a New Jersey court dismissed all murder charges against Carter and Artis. Their earlier life sentences must not be recorded as current convictions.

State of the evidence

1988 dismissal documented by the National Registry of Exonerations and university archives.

Legal status — source text

Criminal case dropped, dismissed or rejected in this matter.

Attribution

No legally standing murder conviction following dismissal of all charges.

Federal Judge H. Lee Sarokin vacated the convictions after finding prosecutors withheld exculpatory material and relied on an unjustified racial narrative. Carter was released. The ruling addressed constitutional trial defects, rather than a new merits trial.

State of the evidence

Federal habeas corpus decision and its reasoning documented.

Legal status — source text

Conviction set aside or acquittal: no standing criminal finding in this case.

Attribution

Miscarriage of justice in the murder case; no standing finding of guilt.

Key witnesses recanted parts of their testimony. The New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the first conviction and ordered a retrial. Subsequent changes in witness accounts complicated the evidentiary record.

State of the evidence

Recantations and reversal of the verdict documented by case archives.

Legal status — source text

Conviction set aside or acquittal: no standing criminal finding in this case.

Attribution

Disputed reliability of key prosecution witnesses.

At retrial, Carter and Artis were again convicted of the 1966 murders. Prosecutors advanced a racial-revenge theory. A federal court vacated this conviction in 1985, finding constitutional trial violations.

State of the evidence

Second conviction documented, then vacated on federal review.

Legal status — source text

Conviction set aside or acquittal: no standing criminal finding in this case.

Attribution

Triple murder: second conviction subsequently overturned.

Rubin Carter and John Artis were charged with three killings at a Paterson bar. A jury convicted them in 1967, relying in part on witnesses whose reliability was later challenged. The verdict was subsequently set aside and no longer stands.

State of the evidence

Historical conviction documented but later overturned.

Legal status — source text

Conviction set aside or acquittal: no standing criminal finding in this case.

Attribution

Alleged participation in the Paterson triple murder, conviction overturned.

Course of the proceedings

1. 17.06.1966 Formally charged — Arrested and charged with three murders.