Benjamine Spencer was arrested end sentenced to life in 1987 for a crime he did not commit.He is still in prison although Judge Magnis ruled that he is innocent. Here are some recent legal documents about Benjamine Spencer’s Case.
Judge Magnis’ order
Document: Innocent Man Order (March 2008)
This is the 42 page order from Judge Magnis in the 283rd district court in Dallas County. The whole document is interesting as it gives insight into pieces of the case. The most relevant part is the conclusion by Judge Magnis on the last page where he recommends “relief based on actual innocence”
Response from the court of criminal appeals
Document: Court of Criminal Appeals Opinion (April 2009)
The Court of Criminal Appeals took over a year to issue a response to Judge Magnis’ order above.
Judge Magnis’ Response to the Court of Criminal Appeals
Document: Findings of Fact (July 2009)
In this 3 page document the judge states that the expert eye witness testimony was not available at the original trial in the 80′s nor is there any evidence to suggest the sanding of fingerprints or that the jail house snitch was ever actually near Ben.
The Alibi
Document: Affidavid (March 1987)
Ben was with someone during the time the murder took place. She is not someone he knew very well and she would have no reason to lie for him. Meeting her was amazing as I had not realized how telling the truth and not being respected by the system could affect someone’s life so profoundly.
More information
More background information is coming (some parts of the case have been lost as referenced above in Judge Magnis’s order) and the rest the city of Dallas has been having a hard time digging out of storage for me. I will let you know how that develops. At least I now have a relationship with someone in the records department that knows how often I have requested and called to follow up on said documents. So that’s progress!- Update – I did get the records! At least what is left of them. They were finally found after months of calling. I am not going to post them all here and at a $1 a page I did not copy everything – I did get what I thought was the most interesting. If you are interested email me and I can scan what I have kristina@dallascandobetter.org