Cornelius Dupree
| Cornelius Dupree Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 22, 1959 |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Known for | Miscarriage of justice |
| Home town | Houston, Texas |
| Criminal charge | Robbery – 1979 |
| Criminal penalty | 75 years imprisonment |
| Criminal status |
Paroled – Summer 2010 Exonerated – January 2011 |
| Spouse(s) | Selma Perkins Dupree |
Cornelius Dupree Jr. (born September 22, 1959) is an American who was declared innocent of a 1980 conviction for aggravated robbery, which was alleged to have been committed during a rape in 1979. He was paroled in July 2010 after serving 30 years of a 75-year prison sentence in Texas. Prosecutors cleared him of the crime after a test of his DNA profile did not match traces of semen evidence from the case. Dupree, who was represented by the Innocence Project, spent more time in prison in Texas than any other inmate who was eventually exonerated by DNA evidence.
On November 23, 1979, a 26-year-old woman and a male companion were the victims of a carjacking after visiting a liquor store in Dallas, Texas. The abductors drove the woman to a park nearby, where they raped her. The perpetrators decided not to kill her, but kept her rabbit fur coat. About two days later, two men were seen trying to sell the coat at a grocery store two miles away. The victims' car was found in the parking lot. Dupree and Anthony Massingill were arrested the following month because they resembled suspects from a different sexual assault and robbery case. However, Dupree did not match the description of the perpetrators of the November carjacking.
The 26-year-old victim picked out Dupree and Massingill from a police lineup, but her male companion did not. Dupree was charged with armed robbery and rape, but was never tried on the rape charge. In 1980, he was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison for aggravated robbery. Three of Dupree's appeals were rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Two of the appeals were denied because he refused to admit to being a sex offender. He declined early release in 2004 in exchange for attending a treatment program for offenders because he felt it would have amounted to admitting guilt. Dupree later said, "Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it." Dupree continued to write letters to people and organizations around the state in his bid to prove his innocence.
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