TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Sep 28, 2016

A Wilson County man who served 31 years in prison on a rape and burglary conviction before DNA evidence cleared him of the crime was not recommended for exoneration by the Tennessee Board of Parole. The board voted 7-0 yesterday not to recommend formal exoneration for Lawrence McKinney, whose legal team said they now will request an exoneration directly from Gov. Bill Haslam. McKinney was released from prison in 2009 after his 1978 conviction was overturned. His record was expunged but his attempts to get an executive exoneration have so far failed, the Tennessean reports. If granted, the exoneration enables a person to file for compensation with the Tennessee Board of Claims.