Local Implications in the Case of Robert Hayes (The Distinction between and Exoneration and an Acquital)
As depicted in the play, Robert Hayes was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 32-year-old woman who worked with him at a horse racetrack in Broward County, Florida. The conviction rested in substantial part on the testimony of a witness who claimed to have seen Hayes with the victim and heard her reject his advances shortly before the murder. In addition, the prosecution presented a DNA analysis purporting to link Hayes to the crime. However, the defense attacked the forensic analysis as sloppy and established that several light-colored hairs had been found in the victim's hands. These could not have come from Hayes, because he was African American. The Florida Supreme Court ordered a new trial on direct appeal in 1995, holding the allegedly incriminating DNA unreliable. New DNA testing was conducted with proper controls. Hayes was acquitted upon retrial in 1997 based on reasonable doubt rather than conclusive evidence of his innocence. (Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions)
On the morning of August 15, 1987 (prior to the events detailed in the play), Vernon Downs employee Leslie Dickensen was found dead in her apartment. At the time, her the death was ruled a suicide. Interviews led the investigators to suspect Dickensen’s fellow horse groomer, Robert Hayes, though there was a lack of physical evidence. Following Hayes’s acquittal in Florida, similarities to the Vernon case and the case in Broward County caused Oneida County investigators to re-open Dickenesen’s case. When Hayes was arrested on an unrelated charge in Mississippi, he was extradited to New York. Despite the passage of time, the Oneida County District Attorney's office tracked down witnesses and gathered evidence. The trial began on November 15, 2004 with First Assistant District Attorney Michael Coluzza leading the prosecution. The next day, Robert Hayes pleaded guilty to the charge of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Leslie Dickensen. Hayes described, in detail, the events of Dickensen’s death; admitting that he was under the influence of drugs at the time. He was sentenced to 15 to 45 years in prison.
The Robert Hayes case illustrates an important distinction between true exonerations and acquitals at trial. An acquital occurs when a jury determines that the evidence failed to prove the guilt of the defendant "beyond a reasonable doubt." In an acquital, it is possible that the defendant did, in fact, commit the crime--in such cases, the jury determines that the defendant is "not guilty" (i.e. the proof did not rise to the level of proving him/her guilty. A true "exoneration," on the other hand, occurs when evidence conclusively proves that the defendant was, in fact, innocent.....that he did not commit the crime. The 223 exonerations obtained through the work of the Innocent Project are true "exonerations." In each case, DNA evidence has conclusively excluded the possibility that the defendant committed the crime. (The Robert Hayes case was not one of the Innocent Project cases.)
A talk-back with members of the cast will take place on stage shortly following the performance.
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