Warith Habib Abdal (a.k.a. Vincent H. Jenkins) Case Data
Compiled by Rob Warden
Copyright © 2006, Center on Wrongful Convictions
Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law
Date of crime: May 18, 1982
Jurisdiction: Erie County, New York
Type of crime: Forcible rape
Sentence: Three concurrent terms of twenty years to life (one term for each first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, and robbery)
Defendant’s age at time of crime: 43
DOB: Not specified in records reviewed
Defendant’s gender: Male
Defendant’s race: Black
Defendant’s prior adult or juvenile conviction record: Several adult convictions, beginning at age 19, for robbery, burglary, and assault (none sexual).
Victim: Leslie A. Werner
Victim’s gender: Female
Victim’s race: White
Victim’s Age at time of crime: 23
How defendant initially became a suspect: Picked up on the street for no apparent reason other than being black (he did not fit the victim’s description); after the arrest the victim identified him in one-man show-up.
Date of arrest: September 30, 1982 (under name Jenkins)
Type of proceeding resulting in conviction: Jury trial
If a jury trial, racial makeup of jury: Not specified in records reviewed
Date of conviction: June 6, 1983
Principal evidence presented at trial purporting to establish guilt: Eyewitness testimony by victim
Was conviction ever affirmed on appeal? Yes
Date of release: September 1, 1999
Total days incarcerated: 6,180
How case was resolved: Dismissal of charges following reversal of conviction
Date of resolution: November 22, 1999
Factors leading to resolution: DNA exclusion
Individual(s) responsible for bringing miscarriage to light: Private post conviction attorney (Eleanor Jackson Piel) and Innocence Project of Cardozo School of Law
Compensation: Settlement of Court of Claims action for $2 million
Post-release criminal record: None (Abdal died in 2005 of cancer)
